Brass
by pyrat-xo
Summary: Noun: bold self-confidence; cheek, nerve.
1. Chapter 1

_Chapter I_

Ikkaku has: twelve developing bruises, a twisted ankle, and a real bad case of road rash all over his left shoulder.

They can all be attributed to: getting punched (repeatedly), having his head slammed into a brick wall, tripping over untied shoelaces, getting kicked, landing on his shoulder, then skidding for two meters on asphalt just from the force _behind_ the kick.

By the time he staggered back up (he'd forgotten how much worse everything _hurt_ in a gigai--), he got a faceful of Arisawa Tatsuki yelling at him not to underestimate girls, or she'd kick his ass.

Again.

They'd been pretty evenly matched at first. Ikkaku blocked a lot and did some shoving; he's not the sort of guy who'd hit skinny girls just 'cause they challenge him to a fight, regardless of how _hard they kick_. His arms were sore by the time he got bored of sounding her out, and he'd slugged her in the stomach and side a few times. It wasn't until he stepped on a shoelace that Yumichika's words came back to bite him in the ass:

_"You're supposed to _tie_ shoelaces. Humans do it for a reason, Ikkaku."_

A lot of things Yumichika says, admittedly, come back to bite him in the ass.

Granted, he wasn't used to being in a gigai. It was slower, weaker, and couldn't channel reiatsu well. Which was why he'd needed practice in the first place; challenging the delinquents behind the school had been a pretty decent warm-up, but challenging the entire student body to a fistfight probably wasn't the best idea.

_"Alright, anyone not too chicken ta fight me better step up!"_

_"Hey. I'm Arisawa Tatsuki, I'll fight you."_

Ikkaku doesn't know what _vale tudo _is, but it hurts. A lot.

He later heard from Keigo that _vale tudo _translates to _anything goes _and that pretty much means Arisawa opened up a can of her karate background with a dash of added brutality and _really sharp elbows _on a gigai designed to withstand a hell of a lot of punishment.

That said, Arisawa was merciless. She saw the chance and took it; the part of his brain that screamed _NICE COMBO _beat the part that screamed _CHEAP SHOT _to death with a rock, then set it on fire.

He found Yumichika before heading back to the Asano house. After all, Mizuho would probably make a fuss over his ripped up, bloody shirt and Keigo would be hysterical about having delinquents in the house. Again. Yumichika mocked him for a while, then helped wrap up his shoulder.

The next time Arisawa saw him, she sent a decidedly masculine acknowledgement-nod his way and turned back to yell at Chizuru. Orihime-chan also looked his way, smiled and waved. He had lunch with Yumichika and Renji while Matsumoto and Captain Hitsugaya disappeared to do official stuff, and the three of them ran into Ichigo's lunch crowd on the roof.

"Hey, Ikkaku," Ichigo flashed him a sympathetic grin, "heard you ran into Tatsuki."

Ikkaku shrugged, "Yeah."

"You mean 'got his ass kicked by' Arisawa-san."

Mizuiro interrupted his Yumichika-strangling with a sympathetic sort of laugh; "Well, I'm not surprised. She is the second-highest ranked martial artist in Japan. At least in the women's division."

"Yeah, Tatsuki's a monster." Ichigo smiled, "She used to beat me all the time."

Ikkaku shrugged again and flopped to the ground next to Renji.

"Are you gonna challenge her to a rematch? Arisawa only came in second 'cause she had a broken arm, y'know! Not even I stand a chance!" Ishida almost casually leaned back to avoid Keigo's flailing arms.

"Just beating the thugs behind our school is a pretty big deal. Ichigo's been raising the bar since he got here." Mizuiro quipped, then tossed him a can of melon soda.

Before Ikkaku had a chance to make a dumbass of himself trying to figure out how to get the can open, Yumichika had already reached across his arm and snapped it open. "Let's change the subject before Ikkaku sulks some more, hm?"

In gratitude, Ikkaku _didn't_ elbow him in the face.

* * *

It was 11 o'clock at night and Ikkaku had: 3,000 yen and a map to the local convenience store scrawled on a napkin.

Ikakku does not have: a good sense of direction. Or a very comprehensive map.

After being stopped twice by thugs (probably not the right direction), he decided to start heading the other way down the street. The map indicated that he only had to walk two blocks to reach the store, and he's pretty sure he'd already passed Ichigo's house.

Twice.

He thought about dropping in on Ichigo (and maybe getting some directions) but he couldn't pick up a fresh trace of his energy. Probably training with Urahara, then. He wasn't sure how to get to Urahara's shop, either, and that was even more out of his way than Ichigo's place.

Ikkaku shut his eyes and slowly spread his reiatsu around; Yumichika back in the Asano house -- if nothing else, he could always head back there and try again. Rukia in Ichigo's room; Matsumoto suppressing her reiatsu and relaxing in Orihime-chan's house; Captain Hitsugaya patrolling the neighborhood. Renji halfway across town, with -- Yasutora Sado?

That... really didn't help at all.

11:15 p.m., and Ikkaku refused to head back until he buys Keigo's goddamn Weekly Shounen Jump, tomorrow's lunch and the rice Yumichika _had very heavily implied_ he should also pick up.

11:15 p.m. and Tatsuki thought that the weird guy with the shiny head had been leaning against Ichigo's gate for about ten minutes too long (though really it was more like three -- but who's counting?). She pulled on a light jacket, some socks, her sneakers at the door, and leaned on the rail on the steps outside on her porch. "If you're waiting for Ichigo, he's not here."

"I'm not waiting for Ichigo."

"Oh. You're from yesterday afternoon. What are you doing?"

"Tryin' to figure out how ta get to the convenience store."

"Where'd you come from?"

"Asano's place."

Tatsuki pointed back in the direction he'd come from and took a second to wonder how the hell he ended up with Keigo. "You're about half a kilo in the wrong direction."

"Great."

"When you reach his house again, turn left, go straight three blocks, turn right, then left again. Store should be about halfway down that block. It's open all night."

Ikkaku nodded once, pushed off the gate and rubbed the back of his neck. "Hey, thanks."

Tatsuki made a face. "Don't get lost again."

"Won't."

"Yeah? Repeat my directions."

He scowled back. "I'll find it."

"Oh man, you're gonna get so lost."

"Said I'll find it!"

Tatsuki shrugged, stuffed her hands in her pockets and started down the street. "C'mon, I'll just take you."

Ikkaku stood his ground. "Just give me the directions again."

"I don't have time to repeat it twenty times until you memorize it."

"Who says you'd need to repeat it twenty times?"

"'Cause if I just repeat once, you're gonna act like you got it and then wander off and get lost again."

Ikkaku was about to dispute the 'get lost again' part, but decided against it. "You don't have time to repeat directions, but ya got time to lead the way?"

"I dunno, I have a hard time leaving helpless guys to get lost on their own and die of starvation in the street. I'm going whether you like it or not, so you might as well."

Ikkaku sputtered, then jogged to catch up. "You're -- not fuckin' funny."

Tatsuki flashed him a look that reminded him a bit of a smirking shark. "Madarame, right? Your name's easy to remember."

"Ikkaku."

"Arisawa Tatsuki."

"Yeah, I know."

They walked the rest of the way in relative silence, and Tatsuki left him at the front of the store when they reached it to check out the magazine rack. Ikkaku found everything and paid within ten minutes, at which point Tatsuki had gotten engrossed in whatever karate mag she had started on. He loitered around the drinks section until she put the magazine back onto the rack, then shouted across the store that he was done.

"I'll take you back to Asano's."

"I know how to get back there, I'll walk ya back to Ichigo's."

"And get lost again on the way back? You weren't even paying attention on the way here."

Ikkaku hadn't been paying attention because he knew he could pick up traces of Yumichika's spiritual pressure and follow it back. But he wasn't about to tell Tatsuki that, since he had no idea whether or not the idea of reiatsu was still foreign to her. He tried one more time.

"I know where it is, ya just... missed my payin' attention."

Tatsuki raised an eyebrow and brushed past him out the store. "It's on the way back to my place anyway."

Ikkaku wasn't compelled to obey or anything, but they were headed in the same direction and he couldn't shake her off anyway. They stopped on the sidewalk in front of Keigo's apartment building, and Tatsuki tilted her head back to get a better look at one of the higher floors. "This's your stop."

Ikkaku fished out some brightly colored can of soda and lobbed it lightly at her stomach. Tatsuki caught it easily and checked the label, then raised it to bump the rim against her forehead. "Thanks."

"Hm. You too."

"And if you try to follow me back or something, I'll know and I'll turn around and kick your ass. I know how to get around my own neighborhood."

He swung the plastic grocery bag over a shoulder and scowled back. "Like I would!"

"Uh huh. Don't get lost walking into the building!"

Ikkaku scowled again at her retreating back and stomped up the steps.

* * *

Yumichika looked up from the couch and one of Keigo's magazines as Ikkaku stepped inside. He stood up to meet Ikkaku at the door, then asked what took him so long.

"Went the wrong way."

"So you didn't buy the stuff?"

"I got it."

"So you found it in the end?"

"Yeah."

Yumichika grinned, took the bags off his hands and headed for the kitchen. He fished out another can of soda, chucked it at Ikkaku's head and started sorting through the rest of the goods. "Did my map help at all?"

"Nope." Ikkaku grinned and popped the can open, then settled on the couch.

Yumichika shut the fridge door a little harder than strictly necessary and joined him in the living room. "Was that Arisawa-san I sensed outside?"

Ikkaku wondered how low the chances were that Yumichika didn't see him snort soda up his nose.

"I was right? Ikkaku--"

"Ended up in front'a Ichigo's house! Think she lives next door."

"Ikkaku!"

"What?"

"You didn't even walk her home? It's almost half a kilometer from here to Ichigo's."

"I tried!"

"You should've followed her!"

"She can take care'a herself!"

"It's your duty as a man to make sure that no cute girl walks home alone!"

"What? Just cute girls?"

"Ugly girls have a much lower chance of being accosted."

"Yumichika."

"_What?_"

* * *

Yumichika lounged on the sofa in front of the television while Ikkaku sprawled out on the floor with one of the couch cushions over his face. Yumichika prodded his knee with his foot and cheerfully flapped one of Mizuho's magazines in his face.

"Ikkaku, your favorite color is red, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Okay. And you feel your best at..."

"Night. What the hell are you lookin' at?"

"This quiz thing! Humans are so weird. You often dream that you are..."

"Fightin'! If ya know the answers, just answer 'em."

"Believes most in--"

"Captain!"

"Not a choice. Yourself?"

"Works."

"To unwind after a long day, you... exercise."

Yumichika couldn't see Ikkaku's face, but he was fairly sure he had heard a laugh.

"True love: truth or legend? Fake, I think. Soulmates?"

"Hoozukimaru!"

"That's because he _is_ your soul, Ikkaku. I think the question means someone else."

He muttered something Yumichika didn't hear, but he leaned over and said teasingly, "I'll take that as a yes?"

"Hm."

"It says that you're an 'independent but reliable friend; you know, the sort of girl that everyone else looks up to.'" Yumichika dropped the magazine onto his chest, stepped over his legs and headed upstairs with Keigo's Shounen Jump. "I need to look into this 'spring colors' thing. They're supposed to suit you."

Ikkaku hoped to hell that pink wasn't a spring color.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter II_

Despite of his reputation of belonging absolutely to the Zaraki Division, being a rude, crude thug and generally an all-around ass, Ikkaku does have the manners to not complain about any hospitality he is willingly given, at no charge.

One of the things any soul reaper who has spent enough time in his division will learn is that they would be spending a whole lot of time in 4th. As such, only inexperienced recruits actually believed that the entire division was full of weaklings who deserved to be picked on all the time. Ikkaku was on first-name terms with most of the higher-ranked officers, and besides the occasional ribbing (Iemura describes it as 'terrorizing'), left the lower seats alone.

He can't do much for the Asano household, so he just does what he can. Like helping out with groceries, cleaning up after himself... not complaining when Mizuho decides to lend him her old boyfriend's fruity shirts.

He understood all that.

He was also about ninety-nine percent damn sure that Yumichika encouraged Mizuho to do all that weird crap, which _wasn't part of the deal. _Bastard.

Pink is, in fact, a Spring color.

It _doesn't_ suit him.

Mizuho doesn't care (and his only other option was to walk around shirtless which he personally wouldn't have minded, but Yumichika would complain that Mizuho-chan wouldn't be able to get anything _done_ if he did, which was good enough for him).

Yumichika told him not to complain about her forcing him to try on shirts for the rest of the night since they would have a chance to buy something he'd willingly wear soon enough, once activity on the assignment dropped off a bit.

* * *

Ikkaku woke up with Yumichika two hours before Mizuho's alarm was due to go off (and yes, he had checked). Yumichika made riceballs, left them on the kitchen table with a note telling Keigo and Mizuho to _enjoy your sundays! _while the two of them headed on over to Urahara's shop. Ikkaku tried to remember the streets as they walked (haven't they ever heard of street names around here?) but he lost track about halfway and decided to just follow Yumichika next time he left the house.

They walked almost shoulder to shoulder in a swirling mass of Ikkaku's reiatsu, with only occasional comments passing between them, and no real conversation.

Ikkaku had spent most of his time in Rukongai blasting his reiatsu everywhere so strong guys might get pissed off and challenge him. In Karakura, whenever he hadn't been specifically told to keep it under wraps, Ikkaku used it to attract hollows.

He covered Yumichika with it to squash out his friend's reiatsu -- which everyone back home thought was kinda sweet, that Ikkaku selflessly drew attention to himself instead of letting his companions get hurt, but Yumichika thinks it's a dickish thing to do. He isn't the only one in their pair who likes killing hollows, and the only reason Yumichika puts up with it is because he hates when fights get ugly. And since hollows always went for Ikkaku first, it would be pretty dickish in return to just jump in.

They reached Urahara's shop without incident. Ikkaku had already mastered the art of baiting strong hollows while scaring off weak ones, but he supposed they were all on vacation today or something. Ururu met them at the door and led them into the basement where Ikkaku picked a flat, shady rock to commune with Hoozukimaru on and Yumichika found a nice, shady rock to try and break his zanpakutou on.

* * *

Hoozukimaru hovered behind the edge of the roof of an old feudal-era style house. Ikkaku didn't seem to notice -- didn't turn around or grin at him or anything -- but when Hoozukimaru rushed him from behind, Ikkaku blocked with the still-sheathed sword in his hand before swiping at him. Hoozukimaru huffed. The blast of wind was enough to force Ikkaku back a step, but he punched Hoozukimaru lightly on the nose anyway. "The hell, I was lookin' for you."

_Weak as ever, partner._

"I'm not the one who ends up breakin' every time I release."

_I'm far easier to put back together than you are._

"Alright now?"

Hoozukimaru pressed his ears back against his head, coiled against the ground and launched himself into the air, twisted, then rushed back down to meet Ikkaku at eye level again. _I'll be fine as long as you don't call me out again for a good long while._

Ikkaku smirked back -- Hoozukimaru was at full strength already -- and then called him a lazy bastard. "Gonna get fat just sittin' around."

_Not nearly as fast as you will. How's not getting any stronger working out for you?_

"I haven't been getting weaker."

Hoozukimaru bared his teeth and flicked the tip of his tail. _Prove it to me, partner._

They fought (Ikkaku figures it's never a spar with Hoozukimaru, since neither of them have any problems with trying to kill each other at full power) until Hoozukimaru had Ikkaku pinned on his back with a claw hovering just above his windpipe and Ikkaku had Hoozukimaru's eyeball at broken sword-point and the scabbard hooked behind his neck.

"Lucky for you, my hands're steady as rocks."

_Then they'll match the density of your head. But you won't get stronger just fighting me._

Hoozukimaru sounded satisfied -- not pleased, but he could understand -- when Ikkaku finally pulled out of his meditation.

* * *

Yumichika's phone went off just as Ikkaku cracked open his eyes and stood up to stretch out his legs. Yumichika jumped about three feet into the air -- he'd been in a _very deeply personal_ debate with his soul cutter, for one thing -- and nodded to Ikkaku to confirm that it was a hollow.

Meanwhile, Tatsuki could make out a blurry figure the size of a small car knocking out her judo clubmates one by one as they drew near it. She had a pretty good idea of what that thing was -- or at least, what it could do -- so when something grazed her elbow, Tatsuki batted it away and braced herself against a nearby telephone pole. If nothing else, at least her back wouldn't be open.

Besides, Tatsuki thought it was focusing better the more she tried to pick out its outlines. Where the landscape blurred, where the thing started and everything else began -- after a few seconds, she could see it clearly; ugly mask and all.

It didn't look too tough.

Tatsuki cracked her knuckles and kicked the dust off her sneakers. She bet she could totally kick its ass.

* * *

Tatsuki landed exactly three hits after the first dodge before the Hollow decided to get serious. Two were parry-counters to get close, the last was a palm heel strike to the mask that left a crack from the top edge to just between the holes she assumed were eyes. It was babbling; Tatsuki didn't bother trying to make out what it was saying or attempt to answer it in any way. It had attacked her friends, and it was going to pay big.

That's all there was to it.

At least, that's all there was to it before the thing whipped out a couple ball-and-tentacle type flails and slammed one straight into her torso. Then she took a moment to be grateful that she was used to those kinds of hits.

Tatsuki dropped to one knee, gasping for air, before rolling out of the way of another incoming flail. She was wheezing a bit, but otherwise still kicking. Taking punishment wasn't one of her specialties, but you don't do karate for ten years and come out a piece of glass. But Tatsuki had a taste of this thing's strength and speed, and it was, if nothing else, predictable.

She caught the next hit on her forearms and redirected most of the force behind it into the ground. That would probably bruise, but not much worse than a hard kick. She stamped the limb into the concrete and ground it with her heel until it disconnected and snapped back. The thing barely flinched, screeched a bit and then the ball stuck in the little crater at her feet exploded.

It wasn't hot, not really, but bits and pieces of what felt suspiciously like bone buried themselves deep into the back of her right leg. It didn't hurt yet, but Tatsuki knew enough about _getting _hurt that it would start real soon.

She didn't usually let fights piss her off, but it had just gotten personal. There was a tournament soon and Tatsuki _needed _that leg.

* * *

Ikkaku and Yumichika were close enough to detect some passed-out humans, one not-passed-out-at-all human and, at this range, could pick the stink of Hollow out of the air even without searching for its reiatsu. Ikkaku had Yumichika scout the area for hollows that would be attracted to the fight and flashed across the roof of a few buildings to save the poor bastard who was about to get his soul eaten.

He arrived at the scene in time to see Tatsuki spinning slowly in place (maybe she couldn't see it, or maybe just hadn't noticed its energy signature, crouched behind a car and ready to ambush her if she got close) and drew his sword.

She whirled at the sound (Ikkaku vaguely wondered how the hell she could recognize the sound of a sword being drawn but not sense a hollow) and snapped, "Stay out of this!" before turning her attention to the car. Now that she had an idea of where the bony white bastard was, she could get on with beating it to a pulp.

He wasn't too surprised that yet another human could see him -- Keigo had almost been a surprise.

Ikkaku swore, then sheathed Hoozukimaru. He took a few seconds to try and gauge her condition -- spiritual energy high enough that she could see him and the hollow, erratic enough that it was obvious she'd never even tried using it before, left leg covered enough in blood that he couldn't really tell what sort of damage it had taken --

His hand dropped back to Hoozukimaru's hilt, ready to draw and intervene in case it got too dangerous. But Arisawa could handle herself (he would know, having been on the receiving end) and besides, he wasn't in the habit of cutting in on fights that weren't his. Yumichika was busy with another hollow, somewhere close by, and he could feel another one hurtling in the direction of the fight.

The first Hollow stayed stubbornly behind the car. Tatsuki flexed her fingers and took off at a run, building up momentum to vault over and take it by surprise. The last Hollow finally showed up, fully intending to rush her off her feet before Ikkaku's reiatsu flared and it adjusted its path to go for the stronger, more appetizing energy. Arisawa's eyes flickered to him, briefly, as he deflected the Hollow's first blow with Hoozukimaru's scabbard and thrust his blade forward, shattering its mask. There would be time to mess around later, anyway.

Tatsuki slipped into the same sort of deadly calm that won her tournaments and street fights, flipped over the hood of the car and landed hard on her hands and left leg, then charged the Hollow. She dodged two of the flails, pressed one hand against its mask and _squeezed_, pouring every last bit of concentration and determination into shattering it. Cracks spiderwebbed out from the first bit of damage she had left while the hollow began to thrash.

Tatsuki let go, shifted back two steps, then kicked its head into the ground. It disintegrated.

Tatsuki walked back around the car, then stopped in front of Ikkaku. She snagged the front of his uniform, scowled, and pulled his face down to get him at eye level. Her eyes were a little glazed, she had a pounding headache, her leg was starting to hurt, but Ikkaku was still having a hard time prying her fingers off of his shihakushou.

"You're... wearing the same weird clothes as Ichigo when he fought that guy in white."

Yumichika announced his arrival with the click of his sword being sheathed.

"You saw that?"

Tatsuki ignored the question. "And you held back when we fought."

"I didn't. Results might be different if we fought again, though."

Tatsuki blinked twice, didn't process a word of what Ikkaku felt only barely passed for a conversation, and let go of his uniform as she passed out. He caught her by the arms before she could hit the ground and hefted her over a shoulder, then motioned at her leg to Yumichika, who made a face and flashed to the roof of the school before the other students could wake up.


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter III_

It was lunchtime.

It didn't feel like lunchtime, what with the morning they just had, but Ikkaku was hungry and it was lunchtime. It was also a Sunday, so no one was on the roof eating their lunch while Yumichika picked the shrapnel (that hadn't, annoyingly, dissolved with the Hollow) out of Tatsuki's leg. Ikkaku kept watch. After a while, Yumichika shouted across the roof, "I think I got it all, but I can't be sure. Take a look?"

Ikkaku thought about remindng Yumichika that he understood only the basest concepts of first aid beyond 'stop the bleeding and get to a healer', but humored him anyway. Yumichika had cleaned up the wound, and Ikkaku popped the bottom out of Hoozukimaru's hilt to start applying the ointment. If nothing else, they could stop the bleeding until they could get her to an actual doctor or something.

* * *

Ikkaku had suggested leaving Tatsuki somewhere close to the Kurosaki clinic to wake up and limp there herself or something. It would've been a lot less suspicious than two soul reapers showing up, but Yumichika complained that she could just _wake up_ and start _talking about what had happened_ and _blow their cover to a complete stranger_ so he relented. They ran into Kurosaki Karin in her soccer clothes outside the clinic and she gave them a long, bored look before turning around and heading back inside her house, motioning for them to follow.

"The clinic isn't open on Sundays and my dad's helping out at the hospital. Is Tatsuki-chan okay?"

"Just tired."

Karin waved toward a couch and ducked into a closet for a first-aid kit. "Put her down there. You guys are soul reapers?"

Yumichika and Ikkaku exchanged a quick look. They'd been pretty lucky on the way since they had avoided running into any normal people, but it figured that Ichigo's little sister would be able to tell at a glance. The uniforms probably didn't help, either.

"Yeah."

Karin started on Tatsuki's leg, wiping off the styptic ointment and going at it with antiseptic and bandages. "So you know Ichi-nii and everything?"

Ikkaku nodded once, and inched towards the door. Yumichika mentioned offhandedly that they had to get going -- had to do their jobs, after all -- and to take good care of Tatsuki-chan, alright?

Yumichika dragged Ikkaku into a sports store after they finished patrol and picked up their artificial bodies. "Karin-chan was wearing a soccer uniform, right? We should get her something she can use."

Ikkaku spent some time playing with weights while Yumichika retrieved a soccer ball from another aisle. "Kids lose balls all the time, right?"

"Prob'ly don't last long for serious players, either."

"The ball it is!"

* * *

The next morning, Tatsuki woke up in Ichigo's bed. Awkwardly enough.

To Kurosakis Isshin and Yuzu hovering outside the door. Ichigo himself (well, not-Ichigo) had already headed off to school but she assumed he had crashed on the floor.

She grinned at them on the way down to the kitchen and joined Karin at the table for breakfast. Tatsuki had done this enough to know that Ichigo's dad had called her parents and let them know she was staying over last night and that Yuzu would have made an extra helping of breakfast for her. She used to help with the dishes afterwards, take out the trash and walk to school with Ichigo. That was before she'd met Orihime and before he met Keigo and Mizuiro and Chad, back when she still knew him best.

"You remember anything?" Karin muttered around a mouthful of rice and soup, and Tatsuki had time to nod and mouth a thanks just before Isshin and Yuzu crashed into the kitchen. Tatsuki finished quickly, thanked them and rushed off to school.

She didn't expect to see any of Ichigo's weird friends when she arrived (about twenty minutes late, as she had to rush home to shower and change before class) and didn't. The day passed quickly, and at the end of it (after karate club, after dinner and just before the sun had set) Tatsuki took Karin and Yuzu out for ice cream and snacks. They talked mostly about Ichigo; Karin wanted to hear about all the times Tatsuki made him cry (and there were a couple of those) and Yuzu scolded them both for being so mean.

Yumichika and Ikkaku spent the day patrolling with Matsumoto and Captain Hitsugaya. Karakura was, after all, a big town with a steadily increasing Hollow population that couldn't be kept in check by the lone substitue soul reaper assigned to the job. Captain Hitsugaya had decided to switch off the teams, taking off with Yumichika for the northern area while Ikkaku and Matsumoto took the south side. He'd said it was to balance their ranks and strengths, but they all knew he just wanted some variety. And Yumichika was easier to deal with than Matsumoto.

The exchange ended up working out better than any of them expected. Matsumoto almost thought about suggesting they switch up the teams more often -- patrol with Ikkaku meant that he hogged all the fights and she got to stand around and relax -- but decided against it; Yumichika could be such a _girl_ about these things.

* * *

The next time Ikkaku and Yumichika decided to show up at Karakura to harass Ichigo, Tatsuki cornered them behind the school before they could head to the roof for lunch (or ditch the rest of the day). Yumichika, naturally, talked his way out of it and left a deer-in-headlights Ikkaku backed up against the brick wall of the school, calmly trying to explain that he couldn't explain now but she'd find out once the people behind the whole operation saw fit to inform her. Or gave him permission to do so.

Ikkaku knew for a fact that without a weapon, his gigai had no chance against Arisawa Tatsuki in a state that had some striking similarities to a _bloodthirsty fucking demon_. She let the issue go after he told her she shouldn't get involved and he'd get in trouble for telling her, but then changed the subject to demanding a rematch.

"Listen, I'm not gonna fight you again!"

"I don't _want_ to win a fight where my opponent wasn't fighting at full strength!"

"I wasn't holdin' back!"

"I _saw_ you take out that Hollow. Fight me again."

"That -- wouldn't really be fair."

"What?"

"You barely have any spiritual pressure. I was usin' a sword, you don't have one. If we fight, 's gotta be even."

Tatsuki let go of his shirt and crossed her arms. "Is that what happened when I beat that thing?"

"Yeah. It was."

"Then teach me how to use it all the time."

Ikkaku readjusted his collar and sized her up.

"Alright."

* * *

They met up after school, on the riverbank along the main road. Ikkaku spent most of that afternoon bombarding her with his own spiritual pressure; enough that no hollow in its right mind would dare approach and often to the point where Tatsuki nearly passed out. He started slow, letting her get used to the different levels; how to detect and locate, tracking and picking out slight variations.

She was really, really good at it.

Better than Ikkaku, and he'd been thoroughly unnerved about it until she explained to him exactly how much time she'd put into keeping track of Orihime -- all she had to do was extend the same mindset to other people, and it came naturally. Once he explained the basics of it, and had her run through them herself, he decided it was about time they moved onto the fun stuff. Tatsuki still couldn't draw on her reiatsu at will -- and as far as Ikkaku was concerned, the best way to learn to use it was to be forced into a situation where if you couldn't, you'd die.

The least destructive way to bring that out was to expose her to enough reiatsu that she had to learn to counter with her own, or pass out and have to be carried back to the Kurosaki Clinic. The only one with stupidly huge amounts of spiritual energy in the area would be Ichigo, but he wasn't around and Ikkaku figured that since she was a novice anyway, it'd all work out.

It didn't; at least, not quite. When they first started, the only effect his spiritual pressure had was to make her a little restless and agitated, regardless of the amount and concentration. He kept trying, unsuccessfully, until Yumichika showed up with some iced coffee and suggested he try working himself up first. It wasn't hard for their captain to have a threatening aura -- he was in a state of constant bloodlust. But Ikkaku always considered himself a pretty laid-back kinda guy, and he honestly didn't want to hurt Tatsuki.

He sat on the grass, legs crossed, and thoroughly relived every moment of his first fight with Kenpachi. When he opened his eyes about thirty seconds later, both Tatsuki and Yumichika were forced back a step by his initial flare of reiatsu. Tatsuki grimaced, tried to shut it out, but couldn't quite manage. Where Ikkaku's spiritual pressure had been frustrated before -- like being stuck in a bowl with smooth sides -- now it was like being crushed by rocks.

Yumichika immediately extended his own reiatsu to cover her, and then frowned. "Ikkaku. Tone it down a bit."

He toned it down, but got used to the feeling quickly enough. "Sorry. Got it now."

"Great! Now we can _really_ get started."

By the time the sun went down, Tatsuki was sprawled, panting, on the grass with a can of ice-cold coffee pressed against her forehead. Tatsuki insisted that they meet up with her after school tomorrow (so she could properly do something in return for them) and then they walked her home.

* * *

The next afternoon, some time before classes at Karakura High ended and after the middle school had let out, Ikkaku and Yumichika stopped by the Kurosaki house to drop off the soccer ball they had gotten the other day.

Kurosaki Isshin opened the door and, with a hint of steel in his voice, asked them what was up.

Ikkaku and Yumichika were stone-silent for about two seconds, before they both bowed deeply. Ikkaku muttered _So that's where Ichigo gets it_ under his breath while Yumichika ground out a "Captain Kurosaki," through his clenched teeth.

Isshin sighed and dragged them both inside.

"You're Zaraki Division, right? Both of you."

"Yessir."

"Relax, wouldja?"

"Sir."

Isshin scratched his chin and looked at them. "Why're you here, anyway?"

Yumichika brightened, and brandished the ball. "We wanted to drop this off for Karin-chan! She helped us out a few days ago."

"When Tatsuki slept over? What happened? I healed her up a little faster than she would've on her own, but..."

"There were some hollows by Karakura High. Arisawa got involved and Karin-chan patched her up and helped us out a bit."

Isshin smiled softly and leaned against a table. "She's a good kid. You boys wanna wait around for her to get home so you can give it to her yourselves?"

Ikkaku solemnly shook his head. "We've got an appointment. It's ah, good to see you doing well."

Even with his friendly grin, Isshin could make a polite request sound like a threat. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention this to anyone. By the way. It's a little early for Karin and Yuzu to know about Soul Society."

Yumichika chirped, "Of course. But Karin-chan already knows about hollows. And us. Ichigo's other sister doesn't, though."

"Are you _sure_ Ichigo doesn't already know about this?"

"Does she? Damn." Isshin didn't seem all that displeased. Worried, maybe; Karin was the sort of girl that would run off and kick a hollow in the face, given the chance. "Thanks for the," he made a vague gesture in the general direction of the ball, "y'know. Come around again sometime, alright? And take care of Tatsuki. She's practically family."

"We will!"

"Got it."

Ikkaku and Yumichika bowed as they left, took off down the street and silently agreed not to talk about it for the rest of the day.


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter IV_

The next day, Ikkaku and Yumichika (as usual) didn't even bother showing up for class, but met Tatsuki in front of the school anyway. Tatsuki had decided to drag Orihime along, and they all ended up in front of Orihime's favorite pastry shop.

The owner and one of the clerks greeted the girls as they came in and while the young cashier already had a slice of apple pie out on a plate, Orihime ordered some ice cream and went a little nuts with the toppings. Tatsuki tried not to pay attention.

She ordered another slice of pie, and more ice cream- vanilla, no toppings- and brought it over to the table. Ikkaku immediately stood up and asked what everyone wanted to drink- on him. Yumichika seemed pleased that his _years_ of conditioning had Ikkaku acting like a perfect gentleman- he had, after all, started out as a thug with zero manners or subtlety and frighteningly little amounts of tact.

Once they all settled down, Tatsuki slid a slice of apple pie and ice cream over for the guys to put together and try, and dug into the slice she was sharing with Orihime. Ikkaku ate a bite and found it overwhelmingly sweet. Then he tried it with some ice cream and-

and really liked it. Enough to finish off the whole thing, probably, but he stopped at half and left the rest for Yumichika, then tilted his chair back to balance on both back legs, then one leg. He spent the next ten minutes not paying attention to much of the conversation and trying to balance on one leg of the chair without needing to brace himself against anything.

Tatsuki finished next and they spent the next half hour listening to Yumichika and Orihime chat between mouthfuls. Orihime usually ate fast- unless she was talking.

And boy was she talking. Yumichika wasn't helping. Tatsuki eventually got bored of sitting around quietly and excused herself when Yumichika brought up shopping. Ikkaku told him that he needed a jacket and some not-pink shirts, then took off after Tatsuki. He didn't feel as bad as he normally would have; after all, Yumichika wasn't going to be shopping _alone _and Orihime would be good company. He'd just need to carry his own bags for once.

Tatsuki had waited for him outside and then dragged him off so they could keep training.

Yumichika watched them go with the sort of glee (and maybe, just maybe, a hint of envy) he only reserved for blackmail and really big fights. Orihime's chattering had slowed as Tatsuki left and tapered off completely when Ikkaku had followed. She seeemd troubled for a minute ("Do you think they weren't having fun?") before Yumichika assured her that shopping just wasn't Ikkaku's thing. Nor Tatsuki's, from the looks of it.

"Hey, Orihime-chan?"

"Hm?"

"You think there's something going on with those two?"

"I think they're becoming very good friends!"

Yumichika flashed her an exasperated smile - she was so cute, but so clueless sometimes - and stood up. "Let's go shopping- I saw the _best _shirt yesterday and Ikkaku needs clothes that didn't come out of Keigo's closet."

"That sounds fun!"

"We'll pick those two up for dinner, then."

* * *

They ended up by the river again.

"I've been practicing! Lemme punch you."

Ikkaku just looked at her.

"Scared?"

He mulled it over for a second- get punched and kicked around all afternoon, or teach her how to suppress her spiritual pressure. Neither option seemed particularly fun, but- "Teach me judo. Then we'll spar."

"I don't think I'm really qualified to teach it."

"Or vale tudo or whatever that thing is. Just some throws or grabs, an' I'll let ya punch me. If you can land a hit."

"To help train my reiatsu, right?"

"Yep."

"Okay."

* * *

The second time Ikkaku managed to intercept a punch and haul Tatsuki over his shoulder to slam her onto the grass, she stayed down and wheezed, "You learn fast."

If Yumichika were around he'd probably scold- Arisawa was a_ girl _and he should be a _gentleman_. Ikkaku thought that was _bullshit_ and the four times she threw him hurt a hell of a lot worse than the two times he'd managed to throw her. He extended a hand and pulled her to her feet. "Once you know one style, the rest're easy."

Tatsuki shifted her grip to grab his wrist and twisted it behind his back. "This is a hammerlock. Police use it."

"That's not judo."

"I'm showing you vale tudo. It means everything I know. Mostly judo."

"That one's easy. Show me another throw."

"Stance. Any one is fine, as long as you're standing."

Ikkaku slipped into a stance. Knees bent, feet shoulder-width apart, one hand at his side and the other held out in front of him.

"You're probably too heavy for me to drop with this one, but it should work better for you. Stay there."

Tatsuki, from beside him, leaned forward and wrapped her arm backwards around his waist, hooked an elbow behind a knee, jerked it up and landed him on his back.

Again.

Ikkaku rolled to his feet and brushed dirt and grass off the seat of his pants. "Too heavy my ass! My turn."

Tatsuki laughed, and talked Ikkaku through the move. He didn't throw her as hard as he would've liked to - that'd be a dick move - but was pretty satisfied all the same to see nearly as many grass stains all over her khaki cargos and t-shirt as there were on his (Keigo's) jeans and white shirt. She had changed after class, probably knowing that they'd end up sparring.

Girls, Ikkaku decided, were crazy. Or at least, this one was.

"One more, and then we can fight."

"This one involve me eatin' more dirt?"

"Depends on how well you fall."

"This's the worst warmup ever."

"I'll show you some forms so you won't be completely trashed when we fight."

Ikkaku was pretty sure he wouldn't get trashed either way- he knew how to fight barehanded- but learning some more judo would come in handy. "Lucky me."

Tatsuki stood in front of him and grinned. "Grab my sleeves."

"They'll rip."

"They won't. Grab my sleeves."

Ikkaku grabbed her sleeves. Tatsuki put both hands on his collar, a foot to his stomach and jerked backwards to hit the ground on her back, pulling him by his shirt and using the leverage from her leg to vault him over her head.

Ikkaku hit the dirt with a grunt. Tatsuki grinned and sat up. "That's a sacrifice. Hurts you more than it hurts me."

"Show me the goddamn forms."

* * *

"Tell me about Tatsuki-chan."

Orihime looked up from a rack of pink shirts and smiled brightly. "She's my best friend! And she grew up with Kurosaki-kun, and Tatsuki-chan helped me out a lot in middle school. Why?"

Yumichika grinned. "She seems strong."

Orihime seemed to swell with pride- "She is!"

"Ikkaku says Tatsuki-chan would fit in well with the 11th."

"I think so too." Orihime smiled. "Tatsuki-chan really likes to fight, and I think Captain Zaraki would like her."

"But," she added, "you don't seem too happy about it?"

Yumichika had forgotten how perceptive Orihime could be, and reminded himself not to be obvious about it- "Well, I was just thinking that the more time he spends with Tatsuki-chan, the less time he has with me!"

Yumichika sighed as Orihime started to look uncomfortable. "Orihime-chan, you shouldn't worry about it. I'm sure they're having lots of. Fun. Beating each other up. For a given value of fun, of course."

"It's just that, I haven't spent much time with Tatsuki-chan lately because of. Soul Society." Yumichika noted the pause, and Orihime's quickly escalating guilt.

"And she knows something and she's hurt that I'm not telling her, but I'm glad Ikkaku-san became her friend. She was closest to me and Kurosaki-kun, and... we're both..."

Orihime hadn't wanted to say anything about it at all- after all, why bother other people with her worry and insecurities and -

Yumichika sighed. He thought _he_ had issues, but Orihime-chan clearly had more problems than she was letting on, and he wasn't in the mood to counsel anyone.

"Do you like fireworks?"

"Yes!"

"Did you know there's a fireworks festival next week in Soul Society? You should watch it with me and Ikkaku~"

"I wouldn't want to... impose..."

"You wouldn't be! Besides, wouldn't it be a good time to see Zaraki-taichou and Fukutaichou again?"

"I'll - um, mention it to Kuchiki-san, I think she said she wanted to go!"

Yumichika crossed his arms on the rack and leaned over. "You should go with her, then! Vice-captain might be a little distracting, with us."

* * *

When Yumichika and Orihime stopped by to inform them that it was dinnertime and they had picked out a pretty nice restaurant (_Yakiniku! It's been so long..._), the last thing both Ikkaku and Tatsuki wanted to do was walk. Yumichika pulled Ikkaku mercilessly to his feet and handed him some shopping bags.

He checked, approved, and slung them slowly over his bruised shoulders. Tatsuki brushed some grass off her shorts and told them she had to go home and shower, then change.

Orihime made a face (Tatsuki's place was farther away from the restaurant than her house) and suggested that they all clean up at her place- after all, Ikkaku-san had clothes, Tatsuki-chan always left some in her closet, and Hitsugaya-kun and Matsumoto-san would probably like to come along too, right?

They all agreed that that was a much better idea and trekked to Orihime's.

Tatsuki claimed the first shower and finished in about ten minutes. Ikkaku was done in seven, no thanks to Yumichika chattering at him through the door. Hitsugaya and Matsumoto arrived just as they were leaving, and decided to come along; food was way more fun than patrolling, and they'd been doing that all day.


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter V_

Ikkaku half-stands in his seat, duels Matsumoto across the grill for a piece of meat. Yumichika thinks Matsumoto should just let Ikkaku have it-- he doesn't care about the meat anymore and just doesn't want to lose to her. His pigheaded stubbornness, while occasionally cute, got old pretty fast when he regarded every little action as a challenge and refused to back down from any of them.

Yumichika sighed, and settled instead for admiring the way sleeveless shirts really highlighted every hard curve of Ikkaku's biceps. He really did have the best taste in clothes.

"Ladies_ first_, baldie!"

"Only lady I see here's Orihime-chan!"

Orihime blushes and laughs quietly as Tatsuki springs up to join the fray; "Are you implying something?!"

Captain Hitsugaya sighs and finishes his rice.

Ikkaku wonders if, under any other circumstance, he would be happy about being double-teamed by two girls.

Yumichika eventually piles some meat into Ikkaku's plate and tells him to sit the fuck down.

He takes the chance offered for him to back off honorably and sits the fuck down.

Seconds later, he and Matsumoto are back to their friendly banter and Tatsuki's complaining to Orihime. When the waitress comes by again, Ikkaku glances at the menu and orders three cups of shochu. Tatsuki's eyebrows go up at that, but he grins and flashes the waitress a fairly well-made fake ID.

Matsumoto leans across the table and kisses Ikkaku on the cheek, just to make Yumichika fume; "Aw, you're even thinking about me!"

Ikkaku refuses to react, and thus be dragged into her sick little mindgame.

Tatsuki thinks that Keigo's head would have exploded if he was present, and sitting in her space, especially with the way Matsumoto's chest had just very nearly spilled out of her shirt.

Yumichika huffily claims a glass as the waitress returns and offers Orihime a sip. But only a sip, 'cause they're still minors. Ikkaku holds his glass out to Tatsuki with a smirk (and it drives her up the wall) and while she usually doesn't drink, she takes a big sip just to spite him, and pretend-hacks most of it up. She never did like the taste of alcohol.

Captain Hitsugaya turns down Matsumoto's offer before she has a chance to make it, and Tatsuki jokes that middle-schoolers probably shouldn't be drinking anyway. Ikkaku snorts alcohol up his nose but makes a mental note to explain a bit about Soul Society next time they had time to talk.

One glass each isn't enough to get even Yumichika buzzed, but Ikkaku and Matsumoto visibly mellow out. When they leave, Yumichika and Hitsugaya argue briefly over who gets to pay, but Yumichika wins out in the end by virtue of eating out being his idea. And besides, after all the destruction and repair costs the 11th Division would have to pay anyway as a result of the hollow attack on their first day, dinner would hardly make a dent in their mission budget.

It's a ten-minute walk back to Orihime's house, and Tatsuki leads the way. She's restless, a little bored, and had eaten way too much. She walks ahead of everyone, then backtracks, then speeds up to yoyo between half-a-block-ahead and right-beside-Orihime. Back and forth. Back and forth.

Back and forth.

It drives Ikkaku insane.

It couldn't be _that_ hard to walk with everyone.

Right?

Yumichika sounds more amused than anything when he suggests that Ikkaku could just ask her to stop, and _doesn't she remind you a little bit of Abarai-kun when he first joined the division_?

He finds that sort of hilarious and true at the same time and instantly forgets about how. Damn. Annoying all that back-and-forth is and speeds up himself to intercept her on her way back. Yumichika also speeds up a bit to keep pace with Orihime while Ikkaku ruffles Tatsuki's hair up ahead. She punches him playfully in the arm and _Orihime-chan, look! They're totally flirting~_

Orihime knows that Tatsuki knows a lot more about guys than she ever let on. Even though her closest friends were always girls, Tatsuki's casual guy friends outnumbered them. She could strike up easy conversation about sports and games, argue cheerfully, bandy around playful insults. And give advice about Kurosaki-kun, most of which involved very subtle cues and a lot of beating him up.

Physical trauma aside, Tatsuki was usually right, not that Orihime ever had the courage to follow through. Boys were always crushing on Tatsuki-- the judo club guys who weren't scared of her, anyway.

Yumichika squeezes Orihime's shoulder to get her attention and smiles. "Something on your mind?"

"Nothing! Tatsuki-chan just looks like she's having fun."

Up ahead, Tatsuki and Ikkaku stop on the edge of the sidewalk and talk until Hitsugaya and Matsumoto catch up, then take off again. When they reach Orihime's house, Matsumoto leans on the doorjamb after Hitsugaya and Orihime have already headed back in to talk to Ikkaku.

"We need to get Renji and take him out drinking with us sometime! It's just too bad Kira and Shuuhei aren't here, hm?"

"And Iba-san."

Ikkaku enthusiastically agrees that they should all go drinking sometime (whether in Karakura or back in Seireitei) and they briefly shake hands before Ikkaku and Yumichika take off to walk Tatsuki back. She insists that she'll be fine on her own, and only came with them to see Orihime home, but they trail her until she gives in and walks between them the rest of the way.

They bicker over her head most of the way, until they arrive at her house.

Before Tatsuki heads inside, she and Ikkaku high-five and then pull each other in for a quick shoulder bump.

Which was the same greeting Ikkaku sometimes met Renji with, and Yumichika takes it to mean that they were pretty damn comfortable with each other after a full afternoon of mutually inflicted physical pain.

Keigo's in the living room playing video games when they arrive back. He manages to pick up the scent of Matsumoto's perfume under the smell of charcoal and yakiniku and starts spazzing out. Yumichika decides to ignore him and goes to take a shower and change his clothes while Ikkaku joins Keigo on the couch to watch the game progress.

After Keigo's third death against a boss (who Ikkaku would sort of like to have a go at himself), Yumichika finishes his shower and comes out of the bathroom. Keigo mentions offhandedly that Mizuho had set up a cot and a futon in the guest room (finally) and they could sleep there instead of crashing on the couch again.

Ikkaku takes the floor by rote, but Yumichika thinks he's going to sleep oddly early. He figured it was just because he planned to pre-empt Mizuho and head out early the next day to go running or training or something.

* * *

Ikkaku parries a blow from Yumichika's wooden sword, knocks it out of his hand, and whaps him on the shoulder for good measure. "You're not even trying."

Yumichika was, in fact, trying. He rubs his shoulder in exasperation and makes it very clear to Ikkaku that the only reason it seems like he isn't trying is because his gigai is much weaker than Ikkaku's (because too much muscle mass would be sort of ugly) and then he suggests they go train at Urahara's shop. With Captain Hitsugaya and Rangiku-san.

They do.

There is a _relatively minor _hollow attack.

Ikkaku thinks that Yumichika gives the worst suggestions _ever_ and wonders if training with Captain Hitsugaya and Matsumoto will always end up with them all being ambushed by hollows.

He's's fine, except for a few broken ribs, and Yumichika's only a little worse off because he had decided to try and take on two small ones on his own. They aren't hurt so badly that it would take more than a day to heal completely, but they stay clear of the school and spend the night at Urahara's shop anyway.

Mizuho totally spazzes out when they get back. She'd been _worried_ about her _darling guests_. Ikkaku's expression of utter horror has Yumichika almost rolling on the floor and when she finally gets tired of doting on him, Ikkaku flees to the guestroom and stays there until the house quiets down.

(He thinks of it as a 'tactical retreat'; Yumichika calls it 'running away with his tail between his legs'.)

Yumichika joins him later that evening and sighs as he comes in on Ikkaku doing one-handed pushups. "That doesn't carry on into your spirit body, you know."

Ikkaku somehow shrugs, but he gets up and looks a lot more refreshed anyway. And now he's not tired and they should _do something_ and Yumichika immediately comes up with several things that could possibly tire him out that he would never, ever say out loud. He suggests cards.

They somehow procure a pack of cards and spend the next few hours trying to throw them into one of Mizuho's really cute berets. Which Yumichika thinks he will need to borrow sometime. It looks better on him, anyway.

When they finally get bored of that, Ikkaku's still not tired, so they sit around and talk.

Well, Yumichika talks.

Ikkaku occasionally answers and when Yumichika finally falls asleep in the middle of a really groggy sentence, Ikkaku rolls over and meditates. Hoozukimaru's always happy to waste hours doing nothing with him, but it does take enough effort to maintain that he tires himself out.

* * *

Ikkaku wakes up to Yumichika glancing out the window the and declaring that it's going to rain, then reminding Mizuho and Keigo to take their umbrellas.

The sky gets steadily cloudier on their patrol, and by late afternoon it really looks like it might rain. They head back to the Asano house; Keigo tells them he left the umbrella in school, and Yumichika very sweetly asks Ikkaku to go fetch it (and doesn't judo club practice end right about now?).

Ikkaku thinks he has the worst luck_ ever_. And wonders that the hell judo club has to do with anything.


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter VI_

The sky was still clear when classes ended but by the time judo club was over and Tatsuki had finished changing into her uniform, it was raining hard. Most of the other students had probably checked the weather, and had an umbrella or jacket. She had stopped checking the weather when the rainy season ended.

Great.

Tatsuki swore and knelt under the awning in front of the school to rearrange her bag; cellphone, mp3-player towards the back, notebooks-- well, they'd be alright. Still, if the rain soaked through her bag, the water would need to get through an impenetrable plastic wall of binder and a cardboard notebook backup. All her electronics were tucked safely in the pocket closest to her back.

The door opened behind her and bumped her impatiently in the side a few times; Tatsuki snarled (she wasn't _done _packing yet) and kicked it shut. Hard.

She heard swearing from other side, and then the door opened again, this time resting against her side before whoever was behind it opened it all the way and knocked her on her ass.

Ikkaku poked his head around and smirked. "Didn't know it was you."

Tatsuki knew that was a _blatant lie _and told him so. He also wasn't technically enrolled, so Tatsuki asked him exactly what the hell he was doing in school. Ikkaku pulled a tiny umbrella from his back pocket. "It's gonna rain tomorrow, too. Keigo left his umbrella in class an' Yumichika wants it."

His expression said, _So I don't see why he couldn't come and get the goddamn umbrella himself_, but all he did was pop it open and hold it out. "You going?"

Tatsuki zipped up her backpack and eyed the umbrella.

It was really, really small.

"I'll be fine."

"Don't be stupid. I'll walk ya home, and we'll both just be half wet."

* * *

Halfway to Tatsuki's house, both of them were soaked to the knees and all down one side; Ikkaku's left and Tatsuki all down her right. He was getting tired of leaning over, and left the umbrella to Tatsuki as he ducked out. She hit the button to shut the umbrella and handed it back.

"If one of us gets wet, we all get wet. Judo club policy."

"You'll get sick."

"I'll be fine. Besides, so will you."

They were both completely soaked when Tatsuki stopped under an overpass and wiped her face, then ran a hand through her hair. Ikkaku peeled off his shirt, wrung it out and put it back on. His undershirt was only slightly damp, and if he could help it, it would stay that way.

"Ready to go back out?" Tatsuki asked.

Ikkaku grinned. "Has ta happen eventually."

They went back out. Ikkaku held a hand over Tatsuki's head until she swatted it away and told him to cut it out; it doesn't help and his arm would get tired, right?

Ikkaku scoffed and told her it helped a _little_ and she was so short his arm wouldn't have any trouble at all.

She punched him into a wall.

Well actually, Tatsuki just wanted him to double over a bit, but Ikkaku was a big guy and she might have hit him a lot harder than she usually hit Chizuru. And to be fair, he didn't slam into the wall hard enough to get hurt, and Tatsuki laughed as he peeled himself off the bricks.

Ikkaku, in turn, twisted her arm behind her back with a move she taught him (bastard) and pinned her to the wall until she stopped snickering. She worried for a second that her shirt would get wet, what with white shirts being see-through when they got wet, but remembered that she was already soaked and it wouldn't matter anyway. "Okay, let me go. Seriously."

He let her go, ruffled her hair and pulled her back out into the middle of the sidewalk, taking care to walk on the side closest to the street. They walked the rest of the way in a comfortable silence, blinking rain out of their eyes. Tatsuki nudged him in the side as they approached her house and pointed at a break in the clouds. "Now it stops."

Ikkaku plucked at his shirt. "Mighta helped twenty minutes ago."

"Wanna come in and change? I have some shirts that might fit you. Pants too."

"Like, your dad's?"

"No, like mine."

She supposed it was a good thing she's had the judo club guys over a few times, and they had left some of their clothes at her house. The only people who went in and out of her room more than the club members were Orihime and herself.

"Sure you got pants big enough?"

"I have some really big pants."

"Alright."

* * *

Tatsuki's parents were still at work. He followed her upstairs to her room, was shut out for a few minutes while she changed, and toweled off while she dug through a closet ("Bathroom's down the hall on the right.")

He peeled off his shirt in her room, probably _completely oblivious _to the implications it would have if her parents chose that moment to come home. He probably just wanted to show off his chest. And abs. And rock-hard biceps. And that awesome scar all down the left side of his torso--

Tatsuki threw a shirt and a pair of pants at his head.

He went to the bathroom, changed and came back with the shirt slung over his shoulder and one hand with a fistful of denim, to keep the pants up. "Pants're a little big. Shirt's a little small."

"That's my biggest one." Tatsuki tossed him a belt and caught the shirt as he tossed it back.

"Didn't wanna stretch out the shoulders. This'll be fine."

"It's cold out."

"I'll be fine."

He probably just wanted an excuse to walk down the street shirtless.

Tatsuki ducked back into the closet, pulled out a big hoodie she hadn't worn in years, that smelled faintly of mothballs, and chucked it at him. "You're going back to Keigo's now?"

"Yeah."

"I'll get you a bag for your clothes."

"Thanks."

Ikkaku left her house with his wet clothes wrapped in a plastic bag, stuffed into a backpack slung over his shoulder and the umbrella sticking out of one of the back pockets of Tatsuki's jeans.

He looked like a normal kid in denim and a hoodie, and the effect was really weird at worst and, at best, sort of endearing. Ikkaku looked almost normal, and also totally uncomfortable (like someone would ambush him if his bulging muscles weren't on display to scare them off).

Halfway to the sidewalk, Ikkaku paused and turned around. "Hey, you busy Sunday?"

"Only in the morning."

"Feel like gettin' lunch? I'll get these," he made a vague gesture, "washed an' get 'em back to you then."

He hadn't said,_ lunch with me and Yumichika_, which he usually took care to specify. Ikkaku grinned and waited for her to mull it over.

"Where?"

"Café by the school. Judo practice in the morning, right?"

"Sure."

* * *

Yumichika intercepted Ikkaku at the door with, _I didn't think you'd get caught in the rain, but you got back so late and-- why are your clothes different from this morning?_

Ikkaku explained in very few words exactly what happened and went to find a set of his own clothes. And shower. He dumped the wet clothes into his and Yumichika's laundry pile, grabbed a towel and headed to the bathroom. Yumichika called after him that it was his turn to do laundry (by tomorrow afternoon) and Ikkaku replied with a quick handwave. He had been going through shirts pretty fast, and he'd stopped bothering with the school uniform so it would still be clean when he actually had to show up to school.

Which would, hopefully, be a big fat _never_, but you can't be too careful. And policemen stopping him in the middle of the street to drag him off to Karakura High was a pain the ass--

Ikkaku came back still dripping, giving off steam with a towel around his waist and dumped Tatsuki's clothes into the laundry pile as well. Yumichika scolded him ("Don't just walk around in a_ towel_, what if Mizuho sees?") but was summarily ignored. He went back to reading the Shounen Jump he had borrowed from Keigo while Ikkaku went through a duffel bag Yumichika had bought a few days ago.

"... what happened to the shirts without sleeves?"

"I only got you one. It's getting too cold out to walk around without sleeves."

"I'll be fine!"

"There's still only one!"

Ikkaku grudgingly went with a normal tee and a pair of boxers. As long as Mizuho didn't decide to burst in on them, he wouldn't have anything to worry about.

As long as she didn't.

He went to find some pants.

"Too bad you're not bigger, huh."

Yumichika lowered his Shounen Jump and stared at Ikkaku. "Excuse me?"

"So I can use your pants."

"Your legs don't look good in them, anyway."

Ikkaku shifted aside a stack of Yumichika's jeans slim down the leg and calf that he'd _never fit into _to get at the sweatpants underneath. It was better than nothing.

* * *

Ikkaku spent the next morning at a coin laundry. Where you could wash your clothes as long as you had enough hundred-yen coins to keep the machines fed. There were laundry machines in Seireitei, and he was no stranger to washing his own clothes, so he wasn't left flailing in the store. Still, he hadn't expected drying to take so long. As much as he disliked reading, he'd already skimmed through a whole stack of magazines from fashion to sports gear to hiking equipment.

When the clothes finally finished, he loaded them back into two large duffel bags without bothering to fold them. If they wrinkled, that was just their damn luck-- no way in hell was he gonna be folding laundry out in public.

He got them back to the Asano house before noon, and met up with Renji and Yumichika for lunch. Renji had been freeloading at Urahara's place, and had desperately called Yumichika the day before. It was so awkward living there. Training with Yasutora Sado was pretty fun, but when they had to eat and he was still hungry, asking for seconds was like slowly inserting a needle into his own eyeball. Repeatedly.

They took him out for lunch. Ikkaku out of some weird sense of responsibility (it had only been a few months since his promotion, and Renji had spent decades as an excitable subordinate under his command), and Yumichika because he really did sort of pity him.

Renji still felt like a newbie when he and Ikkaku spent time together. Hell, Yumichika too. He hadn't been able to drop the -_san_ after either of their names, despite outranking them both as a lieutenant. He figured it came with knowing that Ikkaku could probably still wipe the floor with his sorry ass.

(Though Renji knew on a certain level that he had a good chance of winning-- Zabimaru's final release would be more than a match for Hoozukimaru's shikai, but he had never seen Ikkaku's bankai. Just knowing it was there, and the memory of Ikkaku completely dominating him in just about every practice, was enough to maintain a healthy amount of respect and instinctual fear.)

"So how's the situation with that Rukia-chan?"

Ikkaku knew about Rukia and Ichigo. He had to. Ichigo had only blazed through Soul Society to save her. Renji's fists clenched and he silently cursed the other man for deliberately bringing up such a raw topic. But he never really was one to beat around sensitive topics, and Renji had wanted someone to talk to about it. And he hadn't had time to just sit around with his old division-mates while Soul Society recovered--

He talked for a while and they listened. Renji was, despite all other indications, still Zaraki Division at heart. He couldn't bring himself to pour out his_ feelings _and how much he'd struggled with himself over Rukia's execution--

and he missed this. He hadn't realized until joining the 11th that maybe sometimes he didn't want to talk about his feelings. Sometimes he just wanted to beat the shit out of something. Kira and Hinamori never could understand the way he dealt with problems, and if he wanted to talk, he didn't want advice or comfort-- just the affirmation that he would be fine, whatever he decided.

Renji talked about absolutely nothing relevant, but wrapped up with, _I think I know what I'm doing._

Ikkaku paid for lunch and dragged Renji on patrol with them for a few hours.


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter VII_

When Ochi-sensei took attendance in the morning and Tatsuki wasn't there, Orihime volunteered to bring her the day's notes and handouts. She realized after class that she had made plans that day to train with Rukia, so she texted Tatsuki and handed the notes off to Ichigo before they took off for Soul Society.

He fobbed the notes off to Ikkaku, and dragged him aside for a short talk after classes ended. Soul reapers getting involved with his friends would cause all sorts of problems-- especially Keigo and Tatsuki. Especially considering Ikkaku was all sorts of tied up with Kenpachi. And, knowing him, _thought_ a lot like Kenpachi, which might end up being the bigger problem.

* * *

"Tatsuki can handle normal guys. You and Yumichika're as _far from normal_ as anyone could possibly _get_. She doesn't have any brothers to kick your ass if she gets hurt--"

Ikkaku smothered a groan; he knew _exactly _where this was going. And if he was wrong, then times had sure changed since he was alive. "Shut up for a sec. If I have anything to do with it, Asano an' Arisawa'll both forget all about us when we're gone. Alright?"

His bored expression said, _Are we done and can I go now?_

Ichigo seemed torn between disappointment and relief. Partly because he'd expected (and even hoped a little) for this, but still. He didn't want them to not be friends because Ikkaku was a good guy and Tatsuki had fun with him. Especially since he hadn't really been around lately and. It was just. _Tatsuki_. "You should probably talk to her about that."

"I'm not the problem. She misses _you_. Jackass. Besides, how badly d'you want her _not_ to know about Soul Society?"

Ichigo wondered exactly when Ikkaku got so good at turning conversations around, but settled for feeling guilty and looking even more foul-mooded than usual. He just didn't want her to get hurt by getting involved, okay?

"I just don't want her to get hurt by getting involved, okay?"

Ikkaku looked at him impassively. It occurred to Ichigo that talking to Ikkaku was like talking to a not-so-slightly insane version of himself.

If he asked, Ikkaku would say, _Men with 'ichi' in their names are honest and assertive!_ or something.

"I'll beg for forgiveness or whatever after this is over, but I don't want Tatsuki getting caught up. Tell her if you have to. Watch out for her, alright?"

"Tch. I was gonna, anyway."

"Huh. So is there anything going on I don't know a--"

"'We're _leaving soon_. 'Sides, I ain't interested in kids."

"Oh yeah. I forgot how old you guys get."

"You lookin' for a fight?!"

Ichigo smiled tightly and they bumped fists before he took off.

* * *

Ikkaku leaned against the wall as he entered Tatsuki's room, and frowned. "Told you you'd get sick."

Tatsuki burrowed further under the covers and refused to look at him. "Why aren't _you_ sick? Who let you in? And I thought Ichigo was coming."

"I don't get sick, your mom, and he's training."

"I don't _usually_ get sick. Is he training for that thing I'm not supposed to know about?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, then screw him. Thanks for the notes."

Ikkaku left the folder on her desk, pulled out her chair, flipped it around and sat down with his arms folded across the back. "I think you oughta stop practicing reiatsu on your own."

_That_ got a reaction. Tatsuki sat up and glared at him. "Why?"

That fracción, the sudden influx of arrancar and hollows and on that first night, those arrancar had been going after _anyone with spiritual pressure_--

"It's getting dangerous. Don't make yourself hollowbait."

"I can take on hollows."

"They're not all as weak as the one you beat."

Tatsuki didn't think the one she took down was all that weak, and bristled. "I can take care of myself."

"I'll teach you how to suppress your reiatsu. As soon as you feel--"

"So you're cutting me off?"

"Ye-- No. Yeah. Kinda. Hollows are attracted to reiatsu. If you learn to suppress it, they won't come after you. Again. That was the whole point'a training you. Control."

"So I can run away?"

Yeah. So she, crazy teenaged girl, could run away and then throw the hollow off her trail and buy enough time for someone to take care of it _because they're dangerous_ and they _kill people_.

Hoozukimaru very bluntly reminded Ikkaku that he was being a filthy hyprocrite.

"So you won't ever need to."

"No."

"Listen, Arisawa." It struck Tatsuki that he hadn't even started using her name yet, though she wasn't sure whether or not he was deliberately trying to distance himself-- "There's this _place_ people go to when they die."

"What?"

"It's called _Soul Society_. Anyone who doesn't go to Soul Society becomes a _hollow_. Hollows _kill people_. Hollows kill people like _you_. I'm a soul reaper. Soul reapers kill hollows. See where I'm goin' with this? Soul reapers're _trained_ to kill hollows. For years." He lowered his head and propped his chin up against the back of a wrist.

"Hate to break it to you now, but you're still too weak to get involved, an' the deeper you get the harder it is ta get back out. Ichigo, Orihime-chan, Yasutora Sado, Ishida Uryuu-- they didn't get dragged in 'cause they wanted ta be and they got hurt. Bad."

It was the most Ikkaku had ever said at once, without interruption. He tended to sit by and listen, contributing only occasionally to conversation, and the shock of it might have been what kept Tatsuki from cutting him off and kicking his ass.

"Far's I'm concerned, the fewer humans that get involved, the better. If you go and start attracting hollows when me'n Yumichika aren't around, you're gonna hafta take 'em on on your own, and then the two of us, or Ichigo, or Renji, or Matsumoto, or Hitsugaya-taichou are gonna hafta drop whatever we're doin' and come bail you out."

Ikkaku cut her off again before she could tell him to stuff it and go fuck himself.

"You'll _get in the way_. It's _dangerous_. You might _die_. Hell, you could get one of _us_ killed. So I'll teach you how to suppress your spirit pressure, an' when I'm around, I'll help ya practice. But don't go an' do it on your own."

Tatsuki supposed it was enough that he was still willing to train with her, and if she pushed harder he might cut her off completely. She could deal with this. For a while. "Why didn't Ichigo tell me this?"

"There's a lot goin' on. Ichigo'll tell you on his own time."

Tatsuki's spiritual pressure flared up until the room thrummed with her barely-suppressed rage, then faded. "We're _friends_. I never wanted to hear this from you."

"You'll hear it from him, too. When he's ready." Ikkaku cast his own reiatsu around, surrounding the room and covering any traces of Tatsuki's with his own. It wasn't smart to leave your signature everywhere, especially not soaking in a room for weeks; any hollows who dropped by her room would sense his, and follow it instead of sticking around.

Tatsuki frowned.

"Why're you here, anyway?"

"It's a long story, I'll tell you some other time." He shrugged.

"You better," she retorted lamely.

"I was gonna do this on Sunday, but..."

"We're still on. You need to tell me the rest of it."

"Alright."

Ikkaku left.

Tatsuki went back to sleep.

* * *

Sunday rolled around sunny but cold. Tatsuki's clothes were clean, and Ikkaku had them folded neatly in a backpack. He was expecting to show up exactly on time, but Tatsuki met him at the gate, already changed out of her uniform. "Practice ended early. Let's go."

They went.

He had picked an airy place with lots of customers-- it was far enough away from Karakura High that not many of the students ever bothered to go so far out of their way, but close enough that nearly everyone had been there at least once. They talked about the weather.

Ikkaku returned her clothes, shrugged out of the light jacket Yumichika had flung at him as he left, and called the waitress over. They ordered, and he leaned into the back of his seat, arms crossed. "Ask me anything."

Tatsuki said, "Start from the beginning."

"The beginning was two thousand years ago."

"Start from when Ichigo got involved."

Ikkaku wasn't sure exactly when Ichigo got involved; he only knew what happened after Ichigo crash-landed in Seireitei, and had never bothered learning the rest of the details. He explained as much as he could, and told her Ichigo would have to fill in the rest of it himself. Their food arrived halfway through his woefully undetailed description of Soul Society, and he cut himself off to finish eating before it got cold.

Tatsuki decided not to ask. The story was convoluted enough, even with Ikkaku's simplified explanation.

"Are you busy after this?"

"Nah. You wanna go train more?"

"_Yeah_."

"Alright. You need to work on reiatsu control anyway."

Tatsuki frowned. "I wanted to _spar_."

"You did that all morning."

"Well, the judo club guys are weak."

"Yeah?"

"And I wanna fight someone who's... actually a challenge."

Tatsuki resolutely stared at her fork.

Ikkaku smirked. Tatsuki was pretty damn manipulative when she wanted to be; lots of understated body language, her expressions and tone were all executed well. But it's not like he wasn't used to it; Yachiru and Yumichika did the same thing whenever they really wanted something. Though they were easier to resist, what with decades of practice. "Not until you get reiatsu suppression down."

She scowled at him. "Come on!"

He was more of a hardass than Tatsuki had expected. A _lazy_ hardass, sure, but she really wished he was easier to push around.

"You're good. It won't take too long."

Tatsuki flushed with satisfaction.

Ikkaku knew the ins and outs of getting exactly what he wanted, too. Most of the time it took a lot of yelling and threats, but sometimes it required a little more subtlety. Though he hadn't been lying when he told her it wouldn't take long; he just very rarely voiced any compliments. Tatsuki decided that maybe learning how to suppress her reiatsu would come in handy eventually (maybe) and as long as they got to spar afterwards, it'd be alright. She'd just need to smack him around extra hard.

They argued briefly over the check (he had been paying for _everything_ lately-- whether or not it was 'company credit' didn't mean anything to her) and, in the end, decided to split it.

Ikkaku talked vaguely about Soul Society. Anyone listening in would have guessed he was talking about some new series or book, which wasn't an easy thing to pull off. Tatsuki's interest piqued when he started explaining soul cutters. He complained affectionately about Hoozukimaru, but admitted that when he didn't have his sword in his hand, he was pretty much on edge all the time.

Tatsuki wanted to see Hoozukimaru. Hell, if everything he had said about zanpakutou was true, she wanted to meet Hoozukimaru too.

Hoozukimaru complained that it was too much trouble, but he wouldn't mind if Ikkaku called him out when he wasn't trying to take a nap.

Ikkaku heaved a mental sigh.

Hoozukimaru was _always_ trying to take a nap. Well, materializing him was a pain in the ass anyway. Even if he did want to show off his (weapon? friend? partner?) materializing him would draw so much _attention_ and it'd use up so much reiatsu he'd end up too lethargic to do anything the rest of the day.

Either way, he couldn't do it today. Just coaching Tatsuki to control her spiritual pressure would take at least an hour, and if she wanted to smack him around to work on channeling reiatsu, he'd be too worn out just acting as her punching bag to muster up enough energy to call out Hoozukimaru. When they reached the grassy area by the river (the one place in Karakura Town that Ikkaku ever saw more than the inside of Keigo's house), he picked a spot and sat down.

Tatsuki looked like he was trying to lead her to an execution stand. Of all the things to be doing at her favorite spot, they were going to _sit_ and _meditate_. Or whatever Ikkaku planned to do. Either way, it wasn't gonna be fun.


	8. Chapter 8

_Chapter VIII_

"This," Tatsuki muttered through clenched teeth, "sucks!"

She sat cross-legged on the grass, hands plucking at the grass near her knees. Ikkaku hadn't bothered correcting her position, and just lounged on the grass; she was probably the kind of person who worked better on her own time, and would resist correction unless she asked for it. "It'd be easier if you stopped messin' around."

"Why aren't you teaching Asano Keigo this? He has. Spiritual pressure or whatever too, right? Besides, you're staying with him. So."

Ikkaku laughed, and stretched. It was definitely getting colder, but he wasn't bothered by it enough to actually wear the jacket Yumichika forced on him. "Keigo's different. Or maybe I should say, he's normal."

"I'm not?"

"When he's in a pinch, he pulls in his reiatsu on instinct. Like normal people. You flare up. That's good an' all when you're tryin' to scare a hollow off, but not if they're stronger'n you."

She hadn't expected him to be so analytical. He didn't look it, for sure, but what he said also made sense. That, somehow, made it even worse.

Tatsuki frowned, settled down a bit, and pulled her reiatsu inward. It wasn't working, as far as she could tell. If anything, she had just concentrated it all into a smaller space, slipping around outside of her skin. Ikkaku made a quiet, disapproving sound, as if he was about to correct her, but when he didn't offer any advice it just pissed her off more. _Think like a faucet. _A faucet_. Just turn it off. Turn the faucet. Why is this faucet _notturningoffgoddamnit--

"Need help yet?"

"_No_."

Ikkaku bit his lip and tried not to look smug. "Here's a hint: ya can't stuff water back up a faucet. Gotta pull the plug first, right?"

Something clicked in Tatsuki's mind and she nodded once, then dispersed her reiatsu.

Admittedly, there were some people who _could_ pull their reiatsu back in to conserve it, instead of just letting it leak away before clamping down on it. They had amazing control, were careful and deliberate and were always at least a little bit cowardly. Tatsuki was not one of those people.

By the time Ikkaku was satisfied with her progress, she was able to leave a trace of her reiatsu in one place, completely suppress it and move to another. Anyone who fought mostly dependent on _sensing_ reiatsu, like hollows chasing down a soul, could be easily misdirected. The idea of seeing and helping to develop that sort of ability piqued Ikkaku's interest and he pulled a strip of cloth out of his pocket.

"Circle around me. If I can still tell where you're standin', you're not good enough. Get five consecutive hits in an' I'll show you Hoozukimaru's shikai. Sound good?"

Tatsuki grinned.

* * *

A while later, Ikkaku smacked Tatsuki hard across her upper arm with his wooden sword for the umpteenth time while she closed in for an attack. He was deliberately working her up; it was one thing to be able to quell your reiatsu after sitting around relaxing for ten minutes. It was another to do the same thing while you were half-blind with rage.

Tatsuki wasn't half-blind with rage yet, but she was _pretty damn pissed_. Ikkaku had his sword at her neck the next time she circled around to his back, face infuriatingly calm even beneath the blindfold. "You got the technique down, but your killin' intent's giving away your position."

"_Maybe it wouldn't if I didn't want to kill you._"

He swallowed a grin. Pissing Tatsuki off was _fun as hell_. She had, up until recently, been pretty distant and composed, but he had figured out her rage buttons pretty fast. She hated: when her friends didn't confide in her, not being able to grasp a reiatsu concept and spending hours working at it unsuccessfully, being parried and blocked in a spar (although receiving hits didn't seem to bother her at all), and being patronized.

Ikkaku pulled the last one off surprisingly well, especially when she was having trouble with reiatsu. Tatsuki knew on an intellectual level that he only did it to motivate her (read: piss her off so she'll try harder), but it was so _hard_ to take it reasonably when he was being so _smug_ about it all. It probably didn't help that he _liked_ to see her angry and flustered, because that meant progress. Even if you hit a wall, you had to have been moving to be stopped, right?

(Tatsuki later asked Yumichika what Ikkaku liked, and the reply had been (besides alcohol and fighting): _daruma_. And potential. If he saw someone with the potential to improve their destructive capacity, he wanted to be there, to see it develop and then, someday, fight it.

As for daruma, something about always popping back up after being knocked over meant that Ikkaku always stopped to play with the daruma if he saw one in stores. Tatsuki laughed, because they always sort of reminded her of Ichigo.)

Tatsuki slipped into the same sort of mode that big cats stalking prey took on. Completely suppressed reiatsu, all killing intent smothered beneath a layer of icy-cold calculation. Ikkaku stopped taunting her and relaxed every muscle in his body; the better to react when she finally decided to move. She circled around behind him, and--

he caught her hand before it had a chance to connect with the back of his head.

"What is it _now_?"

"Stepped on a dry leaf."

Tatsuki glanced at the grass and almost screamed in frustration.

Ikkaku flashed her a sympathetic grin. "Counts as one. You would'a gotten me otherwise."

"No. It doesn't count unless I _hit_ you."

"That's what I like ta hear. C'mon, just five."

* * *

Tatsuki smacked him on the back of the head and shouted, "Four!"

"Four," Ikkaku echoed, and lowered into a stance. Tatsuki slipped around to his front, and socked him hard in the stomach. He pulled the blindfold off his face and blinked a few times.

Tatsuki grinned at him. "Five!"

Ikkaku nodded, and massaged his abs. He had been expecting a hit from the back, like the other four, so the punch hurt more than he expected. But he grinned back. "Five."

"Can I see your soul cutter now?"

He fished a soul candy dispenser out of his pocket and popped one into his mouth. Tatsuki had seen a similar thing happen to Ichigo in the classroom, so it didn't bother her as much as it might have if she had seen it for the first time when Ikkaku _popped out of his body_. Still.

He suddenly had a sword in his hand, drew it, slammed the hilt into the scabbard and Tatsuki watched while the whole length of the sword and scabbard warped to become a spear.

Ikkaku spun it in his left hand, sent it still whirling to the right and flipped it behind his back and over his shoulder a few times before swinging it forward and catching it in his left. It occured to Tatsuki that he fought her on par with _her_ specialty, and he was probably a whole hell of a lot better with spears than he was at hand-to-hand.

His body fell on its ass and scooted backwards.

Ikkaku snapped his fingers in front of Tatsuki's face to get her attention again while her mind was too busy being blown to function.

"Can you teach me how to use _that_?"

"Not really the teaching type."

"Then can I play with it?"

"Wow."

"What?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"No one touches Hoozukimaru but me."

Ikkaku dismissed his shikai and resheathed his sword, then squeezed himself back into his body. Artificial body. Whatever.

"Can you teach me how to use a spear anyway?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll find ya somethin' to practice with. Maybe next week."

"After school tomorrow."

"I have patrol tomorrow. Day after?"

"Sure."

"Time's it now?"

Tatsuki checked her phone. "Four."

"Huh. Early."

"Yeah. Wanna go do something else?"

"What else?"

"Arcade?"

"Nah."

"You like billiards?"

"There a place around here?"

"Yeah."

"Think you can get Ichigo or Orihime-chan?"

"I think they're both busy. I'll text them."

"Callin' Yumichika."

"Ichigo's free."

"Yumichika's pretty close. You wanna wait for 'em?"

"Ichigo's gonna meet us there."

"Just him then."

* * *

"Ready ta get your ass kicked?"

"Yo, Ikkaku. Only way I'd lose is if I mistook your head for the cueball."

"Bastard, I've been playin' since before you were born."

They punched each other hard on the arm and then clasped hands. Yumichika sighed, tossed them both cue sticks and settled on one of the benches against a nearby wall. Tatsuki swept the triangle up from under the table and racked up while Ikkaku and Ichigo hefted their cues in their hands and made a few practice air shots.

Ikkaku frowned. "Yumichika, you're playin'."

"I'd rather watch. Besides, I only vaguely know the rules."

"That's why I keep tellin' you ta play. 'S a game that makes everyone look good."

Yumichika watched Tatsuki splay her fingers out on the table, index finger bent tightly, cue cradled securely between her knuckle and thumb. She leaned close to the table, eyes narrowed, feet planted, and bent forward to get within reach of the cueball. Ikkaku snuck a sideways glance at Yumichika, who had a small, approving smile on his face.

Ichigo snorted. "Now we all know Ikkaku's favorite place to take a girl."

"Yeah, lotta cute ones bent over tables."

Yumichika choked on his own spit. "Ikkaku!"

Tatsuki grinned at Yumichika and carefully removed the rack from the table. "We'll teach you. Besides, guys look good playing, too. All concentrated and intense."

"Yeah, even Mizuiro ends up looking pretty tough. Ikkaku breaks."

"Two on two. We'll switch up next game. Cutthroat if Yumichika wants ta be bored for the next couple hours."

Yumichika cracked like a dry twig. Tatsuki looked really good. Ikkaku and Ichigo's practice shots had also been fairly impressive. "Fine, I'll play. What's cutthroat? It sounds interesting."

"Three player. I'll explain the rules later."

Ikkaku grinned and placed the cueball, braced his right hand on the table and set the stick between thumb and index finger. "Callin' shots?"

"Nah. It's not like it's a tournament."

Ikkaku's breakshot sank three balls, and was loud enough to make Tatsuki jump.

"Heh. Your funeral."

* * *

The first game ended with Ichigo chewing on his lip and gaping at the table. "You can't figure out _pre-wrapped onigiri_ but suddenly you're a pro at pool?"

Ikkaku slapped him on the back. "Game's been around a pretty long time, Ichigo. You oughta play with Renji."

His favorite thing about pool was the insane advantage of being long-armed and ambidextrous. He could pull off a decent shot from any angle, anywhere on the table without having to twist himself into any strange shapes. Ikkaku decided to play right-handed for the rest of the day anyway; if he could draw out the games by handicapping himself, that was fine with him.

Yumichika frowned. "It might have gone faster if you hadn't started messing around at the end."

"Nah, last ball always takes me forever."

Ikkaku chalked up his cue, picked balls out of the return trough and rolled them across the table to Ichigo while he racked up again. When he finished, Ikkaku set the cueball and Yumichika gracefully backed out of the game. He headed outside to buy a drink from a vending machine and came back to sit on the bench with a can of coffee and a pocketful of change.

Tatsuki dropped her cue back into the holder and joined Yumichika. "Think I'll let those two fight the next game out."

"I thought you were better than Ichigo." Yumichika smiled and offered her the rest of his can. "I mean, it sure seemed that way."

"I am. At _most_ games." Tatsuki finished the coffee and crunched the can flat before dropping it into a recycling bin. "Just don't wanna get caught in the pissing contest crossfire."

Yumichika snickered silently into his hand. Ikkaku broke off from his trash-talking with Ichigo to glare at him before turning back around. Tatsuki pulled a knee up and wrapped her arms around it. "You guys know each other _really_ well, huh?"

"He's my associate."

"You're partners, right? With that Gotei-13 thing."

"Oh. He told you."

"Yeah."

"You seem to be taking it awfully well."

"I try not to sweat the small stuff."

"No wonder he likes Tatsuki-chan so much!"

"I-- what?"

Yumichika fiddled with the cue he held balanced in between his knees and watched Ichigo sink two balls while Ikkaku agitatedly paced around the table. "Ikkaku _hates_ spending time around people he's not interested in."

"I don't think it's anything like that."

"Don't think about it too much. Did you have fun today?" Yumichika looked thoughtful, and a little sad. Sort of like someone who got picked last for a softball game. And his expression was kinda familiar--

something clicked in Tatsuki's head.

That was Orihime's talking-about-Ichigo-though-I-should-probably-give-up expression.

She hissed, "You _like_ him?"

"I _asked_ if you had fun today."

"Oh. Yeah, I did."

Yumichika slipped off the bench and breezed over to Ikkaku. "Tatsuki-chan and I are heading out for a bit. Ikkaku, you need to...?"

"Yeah. I do."

"Don't break anything!"

"Won't."

* * *

"Is it really alright to let them go?"

Ikkaku used his cue to check an angle and then braced his hand against the table before setting the cue between his thumb and index finger. "Not worried about Yumichika."

Ichigo leaned against the edge of the table and chalked up his cue. He was losing pretty badly, but the one good thing about being so far behind was that he had more balls on the table, and Ikkaku would have a harder time sinking his own. At some point, Ikkaku had started trying to jump the cueball over Ichigo's stripes in order to hit his own without scratching and he had already had to catch the ball several times as it sailed off the table. "So you always hold the stick like that?"

Ikkaku sent the cueball into a cluster in a corner of the table and snorted as one of Ichigo's balls dropped into the pocket. "Yep. Get more power like that."

"That's why you don't have any--" Ichigo easily sunk one of his own and then moved to the other end of the table to sink another-- "_accuracy_."

"Yeah, I'm still kickin' your ass."


	9. Chapter 9

_Chapter IX_

"So," Ikkaku drawled as he leaned against the table, "where's Ichigo?"

The tip of Kon's cue glanced off the edge of the ball and dug a hole into the felt of the pool parlor's table. He looked up nervously to see Ikkaku grinning at him.

"I _am_ Ichigo. Ikkaku, you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, okay. How come you're not runnin' around going 'pyon' or anything?"

"I'm - not Ichigo. Fine. Mod soul. We don't do that stuff."

"That cancelled program?"

Kon wondered if he could outrun soul reapers if they were in artifical bodies. Probably. Then again, Ikkaku didn't suddenly seem concerned with getting him destroyed according to regulations. "I'm the last one. You called me Ichigo."

"Wonderin' about that. Was I s'posed to call you 'not-Ichigo'?"

Kon snorted and crossed his arms. "My name's Kon. Just take your turn!"

Ikkaku sank his last two solids, then the eight-ball. "So where's Ichigo?"

"Dunno. He just takes off and tells me to act normal. Don't tell Tatsuki. I'll rack up again?"

Ikkaku handed Kon the triangle and moved aside to let him set up the table.

* * *

Tatsuki followed Yumichika outside and down the street. "I don't think they were listening."

"Well, no. There's something Ikkaku needs to talk to Kurosaki-kun about, though. Confidential. You know." He shrugged, then smiled.

Tatsuki stopped. Raised an eyebrow. "You guys know that's not Ichigo, right?"

Yumichika almost tripped over a crack in the sidewalk and flashed her a confused look. "That's what they needed to talk about, yes. Did Ikkaku tell you that too?"

Tatsuki frowned and rubbed the back of her neck. It was nice to have confirmation that Ichigo wasn't- for lack of a better word- Ichigo, but that sort of got her wondering where Ichigo really was, and what he was doing and why he wasn't telling her - "No. He just hasn't felt like Ichigo lately. He's not that good at pool, either."

"You've had spiritual energy for quite some time, then. If you recognize his."

Tatsuki shrugged. "Not until a couple months ago. Before summer vacation."

"When you started seeing hollows?"

"Yeah."

"You should ask Ikkaku to take you out on patrol sometime, if he hasn't already brought it up. You can't exactly learn to fight hollows if you never actually fight hollows." Yumichika ducked into a convenience store and headed for the drinks section. "It'll be fun, I think."

Tatsuki swung her arms to loosen up her shoulders and cracked her knuckles while she followed him in. "I'll probably get in the way. That's how it always turns out, right?"

"You're strong enough to take on most of the hollows we run into on patrol. And Ikkaku won't let you get hurt."

"It's not that, it's-" Tatsuki picked up a bottle of some opaque white drink and fiddled with the cap.

"It's?"

"I don't like it when other people need to bail me out. Besides," Tatsuki continued with a sideways glance, "I thought you'd want to spend more time with him."

"Well, yes. But patrol's so _boring_ and he always hogs the fights."

"So you do like him!"

"Different subject!"

"I'm right, right?"

"You humans have such weird taste in drinks, help me pick one?"

"Stop changing the subject-"

"I'm not changing the subject- well okay, yes I am-"

Tatsuki dragged him off to the cashier with an armful of drinks, grinning. Yumichika protested when she paid for them, but she cut him off by reminding him that they'd been paying for everything ("But we're supposed to-") and that they were too old-fashioned ("We're old; what did you expect?").

"You know," Yumichika muttered on the way back to the pool hall, "if anything were to happen between me and Ikkaku, we would've resolved it years ago."

Tatsuki was about to tell him that that wasn't really true and she didn't believe a word of it, but Yumichika cut her off with, _You're quite free to pursue him! _before ducking inside with a laugh.

* * *

"Tatsuki-chan bought you guys drinks! Not sure which ones you'll like, though."

Kon ended up with some strawberry-flavored drink and ended up scowling at Tatsuki on Ichigo's behalf. Ikkaku complained about not having beer, but seemed satisfied with coffee, and Yumichika had grabbed a can of tea for himself. Ikkaku was in the middle of racking up for the last game when Yumichika said, "Let's switch up the teams a bit! Me and Tatsuki-chan versus you two."

"Isn't that sort of uneven?"

Yumichika picked two cues off a rack and handed one to Tatsuki. "Well, I'm getting the hang of this game. I think we can take you down."

"We can totally take them down." Tatsuki and Yumichika high-fived.

Kon rolled his eyes. "They disappear for half an hour and suddenly they're friends."

Ikkaku flashed him a grin and clapped him on the shoulder. "This'll be easy."

"Better not underestimate us."

"Remember the _last_ time you underestimated Tatsuki-chan?"

"_Let it go already_!"

* * *

Yumichika sighed and tipped the last few drops of tea into his mouth. "You know, I honestly expected us to win after he said that."

Tatsuki crossed her arms and frowned. "I did, too. You always jinx yourself. We only got, what, three turns?"

"Four. Ikkaku's accustomed to brutalising his opponents, I suppose. It's a little strange to be on the receiving end."

Ikkaku laughed and spun the tray on a finger before he started returning the balls to their places. "Just gotta know how to hit the right spot."

Yumichika choked and had a coughing fit in a corner while Kon and Tatsuki flashed each other confused looks. Ikkaku changed the subject before they had a chance to ask him what was so funny. "Everyone's heading home?"

"Yeah, we both have homework."

Yumichika looked at Tatsuki like she'd just said the most ridiculous thing ever. "You do homework?"

"Well, it's not hard," Tatsuki conceded. "It's just boring so it takes longer."

"Don't I know it."

"Ikkaku, you don't _do_ paperwork."

"Yeah well, I get bored just watchin' you do it."

* * *

Ikkaku dumped his gigai onto the guest futon and threw a blanket over it. Yumichika rolled a soul candy in his palm and frowned. "What if Mizuho walks in and sees that you're not breathing?"

"Better'n Mizuho walking in and seeing me cowering under the bed. Or you cursin' them out. Lieutenant's got a pretty sick sense'a humor."

Yumichika stuffed the soul candy back into its dispenser and struggled out of his artificial body while Ikkaku checked his soul phone. "Couple hollows across town."

"I thought we were doing the boring patrol?"

"Kuruma-whatever's doing ghosts."

"And you'll hog the hollows."

"Hey, you might get lucky. We're takin' Mizuho and Keigo out for dinner in a couple days."

Yumichika paused, both hands on his gigai's shoulders and feet still solidly attached. "Oh. Why?"

"We owe 'em?"

"I know, I know. But Mizuho will be all over you."

Ikkaku grabbed a fistful of Yumichika's uniform and pulled him completely free of his gigai. "Same as always."

"Point. Where?"

"Lettin' Mizuho decide."

"I always knew you were suicidal, but I didn't think you were _suicidal_."

"It's one dinner. Ya won't die."

Yumichika very pointedly adjusted his uniform. Ikkaku ignored him and passed through the wall to land on the street, then flash-stepped to a nearby roof, tapping Hoozukimaru on his shoulder while he waited. Yumichika joined him a few seconds later, still running his fingers through his hair. "Shouldn't take more than a few seconds to get across town. You left holes in the sidewalk again."

Ikkaku grinned and disppeared in a flash of black.

* * *

Yumichika tapped Ikkaku on the arm and glanced over the edge of the apartment building's roof. "Ikkaku, is that who I think it is?"

Ikkaku shrugged him off and muttered, "If you say Ichigo, distract 'im while I take care of it."

"It's not Ichigo."

"Then just make sure no one comes around while I-"

"It's Tatsuki-chan!"

Ikkaku heaved a sigh. "I'm not even surprised."

"Want me to get her out of here?"

"No. There's only one hollow." Ikkaku joined Yumichika at the edge. "An' she's not attacking it or anything."

"Well, she's a smart girl. Also not, you know, _you_."

He flashed Yumichika a dirty look and dropped twenty stories to street level to clap a hand over Tatsuki's mouth. She had both hands on his wrist, ready to slam him into the nearest wall until he whispered, "Hollow around the building. Wanna take it?" while she had a minor heart attack.

"Are there any more?" Tatsuki asked once she could breathe normally again.

Ikkaku shrugged. "They turn up as the night goes on."

"I wanna see how you guys fight this one, then." Tatsuki headed around the building, expecting Ikkaku to go ahead of her, but he dragged her back by the collar.

"Wait. Get up on the roof and stay with Yumichika."

"Um."

"Right." Ikkaku glanced up the building and watched Yumichika wave to him a few times. Tatsuki looked at him impassively, like You're kidding, right? and he rubbed the back of his neck. "Listen, you trust me?"

"Sure."

"Good."

Without warning, Ikkaku wrapped a hand around Tatsuki's shoulder, hooked an arm behind her knees to scoop her up and launched himself off the ground, leaping between two buildings to get to the top of the apartment complex. Some time between the second and third jumps, Tatsuki had fisted both hands on the front of his uniform and pulled it so tight he'd be choking if it weren't for his incredibly strong neck muscles. Or so Ikkaku liked to think.

"You couldn't just flash-step?" Yumichika half-scolded once he set Tatsuki back on her feet.

"I have a hard enough time doin' that with just me."

Tatsuki took a very long, shaky breath and very casually sat on the low wall that went around the roof while Ikkaku ignored both her and Yumichika to drop onto the hollow below's head. If no ghosts were in any immediate danger and no hollows were popping up all over the city yet, he figured he could have a little fun. Tatsuki leaned onto an elbow to watch the carnage, and Yumichika elbowed her playfully on the arm.

"What?"

"That was fun, right?"

"Fun like a broken roller coaster."

They watched Ikkaku duck a swipe, then move back a few meters to avoid any more property damage than strictly necessary. Yumichika's phone went off and he pulled it out of his pocket with a sigh before he shouted from the roof that there was another hollow somewhere else. Tatsuki leaned over his arm to see what he was checking on the phone, and by the time she looked back at the fight on the ground, the hollow was in the process of disintegrating and Ikkaku had flash-stepped to the roof beside Yumichika.

Tatsuki decided that she had to learn that move sometime. Ikkaku rounded on her after Yumichika briefed him on the new hollow and scowled in her face. "What were you doin' out here, anyway?"

"It's like two blocks from my house. I wanted to make sure it doesn't get any closer."

"Were you gonna attack it?"

Tatsuki scoffed. "Are you kidding me? I wasn't even gonna go near it unless it got too close to my place."

Ikkaku nodded once- half in approval, half thoughtful. "How soon do you hafta be home?"

"Doesn't matter. My parents are out, but I should probably head back."

Yumichika shrugged. "Or you could, you know, not."

"What?"

"Not head home, he means. You were gonna take on the next hollow, right?"

Tatsuki bit her lip. "You guys are a horrible influence."

Ikkaku grinned like he'd already won. "Right?"

"Fine- wait! There's no way I can just meet you guys there?"

Yumichika dismissed her with a wave. "You're not fast enough."

"I run pretty fast."

"Not fast enough."

Tatsuki rubbed the back of her neck and frowned. On the one hand- leaping up buildings? It was pretty fun. In a broken roller coaster sort of way, complete with pants-wetting terror and images of falling a hundred feet to her death.

"Look, you can piggyback an' I'll run slow or somethin' if it's too scary-"

"Ikkaku, you could just flash-step Tatsuki-chan."

"You're better with passengers-"

"Passengers like Vice-Captain, but anyone bigger and-"

"Okay, okay. Hey, you trust me?"

"_No_-"

Tatsuki thought she heard Ikkaku say, Too bad! just before he wrapped an arm around her waist. The town seemed to jerk and blur around them before it snapped back into focus, then blurred again. She felt a wave of nausea as Ikkaku suddenly slowed down, then twisted on the landing so his shoulder hit the ground first.

Yumichika pulled Tatsuki to her feet and then extended a hand for Ikkaku to grab. "That was pretty nice of you."

"Told you I was bad at- what was?"

Yumichika sighed. "Never mind. You have grass stains on your uniform."

"How can I have stains on a black unif- you alright?" Ikkaku paused in his attempts to twist his head far enough around to see his back when Tatsuki rubbed her mouth.

"I feel kinda sick."

"Suck it up. Hollow's waiting around in the playground just through those trees. Kinda stupid."

Yumichika glared at him for being insensitive, but Ikkaku shrugged and Tatsuki immediately forgot about being nauseous. "No, a lot of high schoolers meet here at night. This one's mine, right?"

"I'll take over if you lose."

"I won't lose."

"Well, don't_ die _either."

"Ikkaku!"

"What? I don't wanna hafta file the paperwork."


	10. Chapter 10

_Chapter X_

Tatsuki didn't lose.

She walked away with a few shallow cuts across her cheek and bruises on her arms and legs (that she could easily pass off as from a strong opponent in karate). Ikkaku dripped a bit of the styptic ointment from Hoozukimaru's hilt onto a finger and swiped it across the cuts on her cheek as she sauntered back. Yumichika's soul phone went off again and he dragged it out of his pocket to check the alert.

"Abarai-kun has this one."

"He's on patrol? Let's race him."

"Who?"

Ikkaku pointed above his eyebrow. "Cute redhead with tattoos."

"The one who was all over Ichigo?"

He snickered. "That's the one."

"I should probably get home."

Yumichika cocked his head to the side as if listening for something, and then shrugged. "Ichigo's not with him. You should come with us."

"Won't you guys get in trouble?"

Ikkaku scoffed. "In trouble with Renji?"

"While he technically outranks both of us, Vice-Captain Abarai is a dear friend, trusted associate, and frequent partner in crime. If he tells, Ikkaku will beat him to a bloody pulp."

"Damn right I will. There's a cluster by the river. Bet we can get there first. An' I'm getting the hang of this passenger thing."

"Y'know, I think I'll walk- why do I even bother."

* * *

Ikkaku and Renji greeted each other like they hadn't met less than a week ago. "I thought you were on boring patrol!"

"Traded with Kurumawhateverhisnameis. Thought you could use a hand."

"Sure wouldn't mind some help- Ikkaku-san, who's that?"

"Arisawa Tatsuki."

"One of Ichigo's friends? You're not supposed to involve humans, that's kinda-sorta against the rules- why do I bother."

It occured to Tatsuki that that was probably the reaction most people had in relation to both Ikkaku and Yumichika. Renji flashed her a grin and extended his hand. Tatsuki took it. "Name's Abarai Renji. I thought I felt someone I didn't recognize powerin' up. Not bad."

"Thanks."

"Ikkaku-san hasn't been abusin' you, has he?"

"Hey."

"No, it's been fun."

"Well, good. He must be gettin' soft in his old age. Ow."

Yumichika interrupted their scuffle before it had a chance to become a brawl. "Four hollows. One for each of us?"

"Sounds good."

"Fine with me."

"I'm not usually the one talking reason in a group, but are you sure this is a good idea?"

Ikkaku ruffled Tatsuki's hair. "They're like the rats in the sewer in that video game. Lots of 'em, but they're easy to beat."

Renji stared at Ikkaku like he'd just fired off a shot of kidou and said that it was the best way to fight. Yumichika would have been similarly surprised if he hadn't seen Keigo teaching him the controls to some game when he was trying to put off homework and Mizuho was out with her friends. Tatsuki batted his arm away and cracked her knuckles. "Yeah, okay. I'm convinced. Do I get the smallest one?"

"Get the spidery one. Hey, Yumichika."

"I'll get the fast one."

"Renji-"

"I'll get the big spider one!"

"Spread out. You know how this works."

Tatsuki had no idea how it worked, but once Yumichika got the attention of the smallest, fastest hollow and Renji clocked the biggest one in the head, Ikkaku's spiritual pressure skyrocketed and the two remaining made a beeline for them. He had Hoozukimaru drawn and the spidery hollow's face pincered between scabbard and flat of his blade before throwing it to the side (which Tatsuki took as the cue to kick it in the mask) and intercepting the last one.

Yumichika finished his hollow off first- fighting was fun, but having to clean up afterwards was too much trouble to be worth dragging it out. He watched Tatsuki dodge legs, teeth and some sort of sticky web- hollows were getting so uncreative- while occasionally calling advice and offers to take over.

Renji and Ikkaku finished at the same time and joined Yumichika to spectate. "Arisawa's really not bad. That's definitely a move Ikkaku-san taught her. Got me in the face with that once."

Yumichika craned his head to the side to get a better view of Tatsuki kicking the hollow's ass. "I thought judo was all throws and pins. That looked painful."

"That one's karate. Judo's got strikes but they don't really use 'em. Like... that one."

Tatsuki hooked both hands behind what she could reach of the hollow's head, pulled it down and slammed her knee into its face, cracking the mask. She backed off with an expression that Renji thought was eerily similar to Ikkaku's I-am-having-the-time-of-my-fucking-life grin, and waited for the hollow to come back and try to bite her hand off. She grabbed a pincer with both hands, then broke it over her knee.

Renji smacked Yumichika on the arm.

"That's another one of Ikkaku-san's- sorry."

"Next one's judo again."

Yumichika rubbed his shoulder and flashed Renji a look. "So you did learn things from Tatsuki-chan. I thought you were just beating the tar out of each other."

"That's how I learn!"

Renji snickered.

* * *

Tatsuki yawned as she rejoined the group and Yumichika checked his soul phone for the time. Ikkaku glanced over his shoulder. "Getting pretty late."

"I'll take Tatsuki-chan home. You can finish patrol with Abarai-kun."

"I can get home by myself."

"It's late. Go with Yumichika." Ikkaku lightly bumped Yumichika's arm before he flashed away with Renji.

"I'll be fine. Really."

"I'm coming with you anyway."

Tatsuki sighed.

* * *

"There's a big one across town. I'll race ya-"

"Ikkaku-san?"

"What?"

"What're you gonna do about Arisawa when we leave?

"Nothin'. Why?"

Ikkaku was itching to take off, but Renji figured the hollow could wait a few seconds. Even if that meant Ikkaku would be looking at him like he was stupid for that much longer. "'Cause she knows about us, right? Shouldn't you- I dunno, wipe her memories?"

"Not gonna change the fact that half this town can see ghosts. Blame Ichigo for that."

Renji squirmed. "But you're breaking the rules for some human who wasn't even involved in the Soul Society invasion."

"There're a lot'a humans that can see ghosts. Two-day suspension at most, Captain'll probably let me off with babysittin' Yachiru, an' I do that all the time anyway."

"'S a little disturbing how well you know these regulations, Ikkaku-san." Renji sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and really began to wonder if being under Captain Kuchiki's command for a few months had changed his entire worldview about rule-breaking and defying orders. Most likely.

Ikkaku slammed Hoozukimaru down on his shoulders and dropped into a crouch, expression saying something like _Since when have I ever needed reasons besides 'I felt like it' to break some rules? Stop wasting time. Asshole._

Renji grinned and decided that Ikkaku could handle it himself. He'd never been in so much trouble that he couldn't talk or brawl himself out of it, and Captain Zaraki never hesitated to smash regulations to pieces whenever he felt the urge. The rest of the division seemed tame in comparison.

"I'll race you there, Ikkaku-san."

* * *

Tatsuki trailed sleepily about half a step behind Yumichika on the way back to her house. She had stayed up later to study for a tests or finish work before, but as it turned out, burning up spiritual energy wore her out. They didn't talk much- Yumichika liked listening to his own voice, but pointless chatter was a waste of it.

That was fine with Tatsuki. It wasn't as if the silence was especially awkward or anything.

"This is it?"

"Yeah. Wanna come in for, I dunno, tea or something?"

"I think you need to sleep more than I need tea."

Tatsuki flashed him a smile. "Today was fun. Thanks."

Yumichika beamed back. "You were helping us hande our job. We should be thanking you."

"You know what I mean. I don't feel right about- oh, hey, I know- ask Keigo to show you a movie called Ong Bak. It's released under a different name, but he has the original. Borrowed it last year. Not exactly as cool as getting to fight hollows, but I think you guys'd like it."

"I'll do that. Good night, Tatsuki-chan."

"Night."

* * *

Keigo stuffed his pencil back into its case, shut his textbook and went to set up the television. "Ong Bak? Sure, I need something to do besides homework."

"Your game system plays DVDs? These things are great."

"You can't figure out _pre-wrapped onigiri _but you make the distinction between a Playstation and a DVD player?"

Ikkaku supposed it was nice that Keigo wasn't completely terrified of him and Yumichika anymore, 'cause it'd be sort of stupid to have your hosts in a constant state of fear, but he could do without the teasing. "Does everyone fuckin' know about that?"

"Well..."

"Forget it. What's this movie about?"

"Tony Jaa beats a lot of people up with Thai martial arts. Arisawa borrowed it last year for research. It doesn't have any subtitles, but the dialogue is kinda pointless anyway."

Yumichika laughed and elbowed Ikkaku in the arm. "Tatsuki-chan knows you a lot better than she lets on."

"They use that in vale tudo?"

"Yeah, actually."

"I'm about to be left completely out of this conversation. Call me when you two find a good movie with swords."

Ikkaku looked at Keigo. "Movie about swords, uh. Zatoichi? That was pretty good. Could put it on later."

"Definitely. Pretty much any Kurosawa samurai film. Yojimbo's a good one. Hong Kong wuxia flicks kinda look more like what you guys do, though."

"Do not."

"Flying around and doing crazy flippy stuff? Totally do."

"That's really just Ikkaku. The rest of us fight somewhat more normally."

"Hey."

"And the whole powers thing totally sounds straight out of One Piece."

"What?"

"Manga. Never mind. Movie's starting."

"Just skip to the fights."

* * *

Ikkaku leaned over on one arm of the couch and squinted at the screen. "They use their knees? Can't say I haven't thought about it..."

"Elbows too."

"Ikkaku, you could do that flip, right?"

"I could do that flip."

Keigo whistled under his breath. "Can you teach me how to do that flip?"

"Yeah, but you'd need to learn three other flips before you even try that one."

"Hey, no problem."

"Then I could probably teach you how to do that flip- fuckin' _needles_."

"So swords don't bother you but needles do? You guys..."

"'You guys'? I take offense to that. And stop talking, I want to hear the movie."

"You don't speak Thai- hey, his legs're on fire!"

"It looks great, but the fire doesn't exactly do a lot of damage."

"Yumichika, shut up'n watch the movie."

"There's a sequel, too."

"Oh my god, we're going to be here all night, aren't we?"

* * *

Matsumoto flipped a lock of hair over her shoulder. "Walk faster!"

"Or maybe I drop all this shit and you can carry your own damn bags-"

"As I recall, you needed to buy some human clothes, too, so stop complaining and walk."

"Don't remember volunteerin' for this-"

"Oh, suck it up. I only need to hit one more store, then we can start on you!"

"_I can pick out my own damn clothes-"_

"And you always come out looking like a thug."

"So?"

"And stop leaking your energy everywhere, you're like a beacon for any hollows dumb enough to be out in the day."

"At least I'll have somethin' to look forward to."

"After we're done with you, shoes!"

"I have shoes."

"Not for you."

"Surprise of my fuckin' life."

"I'm glad Yumichika's busy today, Captain would never agree to hold my bags for me."

_"I never agreed to this_-_"_

Matsumoto ducked into the last store and immediately headed to the counter to harrass the clerk for a deal and maybe some nice recommendations. Harrass with her boobs, which Ikkaku really didn't think of as harrassment at all (but evidently Matsumoto did and it worked, so who was he to complain?) He found a couch, dumped the bags he'd been saddled with next to it and plopped into the seat.

He had also, wrongly, thought that the worst of it was over. Buying stuff normally meant walking into a store, finding something that was more or less the right size, paying for it and walking out. He'd had human world assignments before, no problem.

Buying stuff with Matsumoto (even if it wasn't buying her stuff) was always shopping and shopping with Matsumoto made shopping with Yumichika feel like a walk in the park. Ikkaku wasn't sure why it took him so long to figure this out. He's known Matsumoto for nearly a century. Fatal oversight on his part.

"We're done, right?"

"You haven't even tried them on!"

"It's the right size, it looks fine-"

Matsumoto shoved him into the dressing room before he had a chance to protest. "I wanna see how it looks on you!"

* * *

"Well, it makes your butt look good."

"'Pretty sure it's the other way around- look, can we leave yet?"

"Try the shirt, too!"

Ikkaku tried the shirt.

"It looks too... schoolboy? Roll up the sleeves."

"It looks like every single other shirt in this fuckin' store-"

"Roll up the sleeves! Come on, Ikkaku. I outrank you."

"Or maybe I don't do it and just walked out right now."

"I'll tell Vice Captain Kusajishi you were being mean to me, Ikkaku~"

"Fine, goddamnit."

"Now the sleeveless!"

"Don't you have shoes to buy?"

"... it looks good. Really good. But you suddenly look like a thug."

"I always look like a thug."

"It was almost kinda classy with the other shirt, but the bad boy look really works for you. But the nice shirt's so much more all-purpose..."

"You're enjoying this. This is the last time I complain about shopping with Yumichika."

"I would enjoy this a lot more if you stopped whining."

"'Cause the one thing I wanna do is make sure this is a pleasant experience for ya."

Matsumoto checked her nails, then threw a belt at his chest. "I didn't know you were so sarcastic. Were you always this sarcastic? You're never like this when we drink."

"Might be 'cause I'm usually drunk when we drink."

"Okay, you're getting the sleeveless. We need to find you a jacket, too."

"We do?"

"Just go!"


	11. Chapter 11

_Chapter XIV_

Ikkaku slouched in a cushy chair and mentally assessed his condition while Matsumoto disappeared behind a rack of shoes. His feet hurt. His arms hurt. His _head_ hurt. Hell, his ears hurt. too. He shut his eyes, leaned back and tried to sneak in a few minutes of sleep before Matsumoto could drag him out to another store, shopping bags behind and between his knees-- if anyone so much as touched them, he would know.

Someone sat down next to him.

He inclined his head, eyes still shut. "No practice today?"

"I thought you were asleep-- one of the upperclassmen sprained his wrist. It ended early."

"You sprained someone's wrist?"

"Why is that the first conclusion to jump to?"

"How?"

"I flipped him too hard when he grabbed me from behind. He's lighter than you."

Ikkaku gave up on sleep, grinned and cracked open both eyes. "What're you doin' here?"

Tatsuki grinned back and held up a shoebox. "Needed new sneakers. You're with that lady who's living with Orihime, right? I can recognize her chi now."

"Matsumoto. An' it's called '_reiryoku_'."

"Whatever. They call it _chi_ in Dragonball. And China."

"I know they call it _chi_ in China, this is a little different. Dragonball?"

"Manga. Forget it."

"Keepin' tabs on Orihime-chan?"

"I always keep tabs on Orihime. Why're you here?"

"Matsumoto's shopping."

Tatsuki raised an eyebrow and pretended to check her nails. "So you're her bitch."

Ikkaku shot her a withering glare. "Anyone ever tell ya you've got a mean streak?"

"All the time. Anyone ever tell you you're a gigantic pushover?"

"Did Yumichika say that? I'll kill him. Repeat that an' I won't spare you, either."

Tatsuki laughed and they sat in comfortable silence for a few seconds.

"Did you see the movie?"

"_Yeah_. How much'a that d'you know?."

"Some of the basic stuff. Wanted to look into knee strikes."

"Show me sometime. You busy tomorrow?"

"I bet you already know how to do most of it. And there's no club tomorrow, so sure."

"Ah, maybe. Hey, I got a question."

"Yeah?"

"What's a nice place to get food?"

"Couple places. Why?"

"Eatin' out tonight."

"That's why you're shopping? Uh. Getting dragged out shopping?"

"Yeah. Last assignment I had here, guys were wearin' what, bell-bottoms. Heh. That one got me promoted."

"What the hell? How old _are_ you guys? You had a school uniform, right?"

"Nothin' for this weather. Could probably be your great-granddad. Where're your parents from?"

"That's weird. How come you don't _act_ like an old guy? If you're already dead, I guess it's hard to age, but..."

"Mind over matter, grasshopper."

"... you've been watching too many badly-dubbed movies at Keigo's, haven't you?"

The set of Ikkaku's mouth was serious, but the slight quirk of his eyebrow screamed, _As with so many other things, I am pulling this out of my finely sculpted ass_. "Like you said, we're already dead."

"Jerk. I'll draw you a map."

"Thanks."

* * *

Ikkaku cinched his belt and pulled on a black sleeveless shirt. "White hoodie? Gray jacket?"

"White." Yumichika leaned back onto a few pillows and pulled his knees up to his chest. "You're already wearing so much black."

"I like black."

"You like red, too, but you never wear any."

Ikkaku checked his reflection in the window; there wasn't a mirror in the guestroom, but then again, they didn't really need one. Yumichika tossed him the hoodie and he pulled the sleeves up behind his elbows. "Red stands out too much. Looks alright?"

"You look good. Where are we going?"

"Surprise."

"I thought you were letting Mizuho pick."

Ikkaku adjusted the hood. "An' she told me to pick."

"Are you done primping?"

"I'm not _primping_. _You_ primp. _I_-- uh. Assess."

Ikkaku grinned at him and Yumichika picked at the sleeve of his own shirt. "This looks okay?"

"Looks good."

"Good."

Mizuho's voice drifted through the door. She said something like, _Darliiing, are you ready?_

Yumichika mouthed _Ready if you are!_

Ikkaku put a finger to his temple, cocked his thumb and mimed pulling the trigger.

"Where'd you see that?"

"Some movie."

"You have been spending _way_ too much time in front of the television. Time to get this over with?"

Mizuho latched onto Ikkaku's arm as soon as they left the building. Yumichika started up a steady stream of chatter while Ikkaku (surprisingly, to Keigo) managed polite conversation with Mizuho. Polite being occasional _Kill me now!_ looks to Yumichika and agreeing every time she asked him a question.

* * *

Ikkaku collapsed face-first on the bed, then rolled onto his back. "Ate too much. Never again."

"That wasn't so bad. Classy Italian, I didn't expect that from you."

"What?"

"You made a good choice."

"Oh." Ikkaku struggled out of his jacket and threw it at Yumichika's head. "_Didn't expect?_"

"You asked Tatsuki-chan, right?"

Ikkaku dragged a pillow over his face to block out the light and stretched so his legs and other arm took up most of the space on the bed. "This afternoon. ... you're usin' Keigo's soap?"

"Shampoo. You smell Keigo's hair?"

"_Mizuho's_ when she when she got in my face. An' your pillow smells like, uh. I dunno, soapy."

"Oh. You realize that was a _hug, _right?"

"It should count as-- what do they call trying to kill someone'n not doin' it right?"

"Assault. And suffocated by a little human girl? I know we're in gigai, but really."

"Weren't you the one who keeps warnin' me about underestimating human girls? An' she manages some kendo team."

"Why isn't your memory ever this good when I'm writing up our reports?"

"'Cause we'd get in trouble?"

"I am using his shampoo, by the way. It's not nearly as fruity as Mizuho-chan's. Move over a bit."

Ikkaku was silent for a moment, then he pulled the pillow off his face and shifted to the side to make room for Yumichika.

"Smells kinda familiar."

Yumichika raised an eyebrow and half-teasingly asked, "Maybe Tatsuki-chan?"

"... yeah, that might be it."

"You know I was joking, right?"

"No, it is. Comes up to my neck. Gets in my face when we're grappling. _Which is part'a judo_ don't start with me."

Yumichika rolled his eyes in a way that Ikkaku knew to mean _I don't believe a word you just said but I'll humor you_ and nudged his arm."Okay-- wait. You don't pull your punches when you fight her? Ikkaku!"

"'Course not."

"I would be a lot less disturbed if you hadn't said that like it was obvious."

"Huh?"

"Never mind!"

* * *

Ikkaku reached around the back of his head and tapped Tatsuki's knee. She rolled off his back with a victorious laugh while he swiped a hand under his nose to check that it wasn't bleeding.

"Agh-- fuck."

"You could've won if you used an armbar when you flipped me."

"'S not a real fight. 'F it was, you'd be missin' that arm--"

"Yeah, but then you'll keep losing--"

"_Keep_ losing?"

"Okay, okay, then you might win _all the time_ instead of half the time. Happy?"

"Hm. 'Nother round?"

Tatsuki dragged a towel off the back of a chair and tossed it to Ikkaku, then grabbed another one and wiped down her face. "We've been doing this for hours. I have an _actual_ punching bag if you're that bored. You're allowed to bleed on that towel, by the way."

"Go drink some water. If you have a staff or somethin', I can teach ya how to use it."

"I have an old one, but I never learned how to use it. Go through the closet. My dad went a little overboard when I got into martial arts."

He went for the closet like a kid going for birthday presents. "Why the hell've I never been down here before?"

"I like it better outside. And it's not like there's anyone to train with whenever I feel like it in my basement. But I taught Orihime karate here."

Ikkaku turned a shinai in his hands, then stuffed it back into the corner of the closet. "Orihime-chan knows karate? -- you did kendo?"

"Yeah. And no. I never learned how to use a staff and I don't know how to use nunchakus either, but they're there. Just in case."

"You have a sansetsukon! This's a _goldmine_--"

Tatsuki figured she should've known that Ikkaku would get excited over a closet full of weapons. "If I knew you were like this, I would've showed you a lot sooner."

"C'mon, let's get started."

Tatsuki caught the staff he tossed her way and rubbed her forehead as if she was flashing back to some unpleasant memory, then slowly took a drink of water. "I'm gonna look stupid with this. There's a reason I hit people with my fists instead of sticks."

"Forward stance."

"You're such a hardass."

"Ya wanna take a break?"

"No."

"Stance!"

"Okay, okay. When have you ever cared about the right way to do things, anyway?"

"Doesn't matter if _I_ do it, but when you're learnin', gotta do it right. Hands on the middle."

"So I'm learning bojutsu?"

"I don't know bojutsu-- wait I lied, I do. This ain't it."

"So this is..."

"Uh. You ever seen Keigo's wuxia films?"

"Yeah."

"That."

"... really? How?"

"Hoozukimaru's a spear. It was just... I dunno, natural?" Ikkaku thought about mentioning Hoozukimaru's sansetsukon form, but ultimately decided that it'd be a good idea to have something up his sleeve on the off-chance Tatsuki ever grew up and died to become a hollow and just happened to retain knowledge of his weapon. Which would be inconvenient.

"... have you ever heard of Bruce Lee? Jet Li? Jackie Chan?"

"... who?"

"Never mind."

* * *

Tatsuki caught the staff before it hit the floor, tapped it a few times against her ankle and shifted her grip back to the middle. "I still don't get it. You don't even use the spinny move in a real fight."

"'Course you don't. Don't use most'a those spin kicks in a fight, but you still gotta do 'em. Watch my hands, alright?"

Tatsuki watched Ikkaku's hands blur while he demonstrated a weave for what felt like the twentieth time with the three-sectioned staff. He'd tried slowing it down earlier, only to miss a beat and end up smacking himself on the shoulder. Then he flashed a dirty look at Hoozukimaru for what Tatsuki assumed was a snide comment. She chalked it up to Ikkaku being so used to not thinking that any change in the habit resulted in failure.

"That doesn't help, you're going too fast."

Ikkaku was about to snap that he's never heard _that_ one before, until he realized that it would probably fly right over Tatsuki's head and that wouldn't help, either. He dropped the sansetsukon on the floor and nudged it aside. "Tch, fine. Stance. Hands on the middle."

"Okay."

Ikkaku walked in a wide circle around Tatsuki, nudged her feet closer together, adjusted her grip on the staff and then pried her fingers half off of it.

"Keep your hands relaxed. You don't want a real tight grip, or everything slows down."

"Now what?"

Ikkaku ducked behind her, reached around her shoulders and covered her hands with his. "Just... try'n feel what I'm doin'."

"Wow."

"What?"

"Nothing. Let's do it."

Tatsuki picked up the weave fairly quickly after that. Ikkaku waited until she got used to the motions before moving on to getting used to shifting her grip along the stick and attacking. Which she sucked at. Unsurprisingly, to Ikkaku, but Tatsuki was so frustrated by the fiftieth or so round of disarm-smack-pin that she ended up letting go of the staff and kicking him in the head.

"Sorry. Reflex. And I maybe hate you a bit."

Ikkaku waited for his ears to stop ringing before replying. "Waiting for that, actually."

"What?"

"When a guy grabs the stick, you snap it up'n break his grip if he's weaker-- won't work on me, by the way-- or you let him have it an' kick him in the face. Like ya just did. Any guy not already fightin' with a staff doesn't know how to use it. Usually."

"You are the worst teacher ever."

"Well, now ya know."

"That's gonna bruise. Sorry."

Ikkaku leaned back and batted Tatsuki's hand away from his face. "Don't worry about it."

"Okay, but I have a question."

"Yeah?"

"How's it teaching me how to use a staff if your best suggestion is to drop it and use my legs?"

"'Cause you suck at it."

Ikkaku ducked another swing at his face, caught Tatsuki's wrist and eventually managed to wrestle her back down to the mat, one arm twisted behind her back and the other hand tapping out frantically on his shoulder.

"Hey, don't break my arm!"

"Waitin' for the ten-count. Hey, since we got some time." He leaned close to her ear and said, smirking, "I_ really _hope ya don't let guys pin you when you're alone all the time."

Tatsuki squirmed a bit and tried to draw her neck into her shoulders-- "What about Ichigo?"

"Ichigo's okay."

"What about you?"

"_Obviously_ I'm okay!"

"What about Asano Keigo?"

Ikkaku let go of Tatsuki's wrist and moved back to sit cross-legged down on the mat while Tatsuki flexed her arm a few times.

"I'll get back to you on that. No, I'm kiddin'. Keigo's a good kid. Weird kid. But good."

Tatsuki laughed. "Kojima says that."

"They're good friends?"

"Yeah, but he'll probably deny it." Tatsuki stood up and extended both hands to pull Ikkaku to his feet. She had to lean back hard and anchor her feet on his to avoid being pulled forward, but felt oddly satisfied that he saw fit to let her try and pull up all 76 kilos of him. Or at least, trusted her to succeed at it.

"Probably."

"Hey, when do you go back to Soul Society?"

"Winter at latest. Usually get the warning a day or two in advance. What, gonna miss me?"

Tatsuki flashed him a smile that said, _Yeah, I might miss you a little bit_, then tossed her head. "You wish."

"Towel off. Drink some water. You're gettin' the hang of this."


	12. Chapter 12

_Chapter XII_

Ikkaku scooped up the weapons they had been practicing with and stowed them back into the closet while Tatsuki grabbed the towels and water bottles. His phone rang halfway up the steps and Ikkaku had finished a quick conversation by the time Tatsuki reached the top of the steps.

"It's Yumichika."

"You gotta go? See you around."

His reply was almost resigned. "Yeah, I'll run into you whether I like it or not."

"Yeah, what's with that?"

"Luck?"

"Luck? Really?"

"Bad luck," Ikkaku teased.

"Well, I don't mind so much."

Ikkaku knew a loaded sentence when he heard one (Yumichika had trained him well), but Tatsuki was either oblivious or messing with him. Or completely honest in the blunt sort of way he'd come to expect, which he figured must be it.

"Huh?"

"We always end up doing something fun. So it's still kinda weird running into you all over the place, but I don't mind."

"Oh. Well, if your definition of fun is fightin' all the time, sure."

"Well, so's yours. I'm getting stronger, too." Tatsuki grinned and threw a short punch at his shoulder when they reached the door. Most people would've thought she was messing around, but Ikkaku had learned the hard way to reflexively move aside.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Hold still and I'll show you."

"Think I'll pass."

"Wuss."

"Next time, maybe."

Tatsuki smiled (or at least, showed her teeth), and chirped, "Don't do anything stupid until then."

Ikkaku raised an eyebrow, dragged her into a vicious headlock and rubbed his knuckles into her scalp while she punched at his kidneys. "Like I need to hear that from you!"

By the time Tatsuki managed to squirm out of his grip, her face was flushed from the effort and her hair was a mess. Not that it really mattered, but she punched him in the ribs in retaliation anyway. "Hey, you have a phone, right? Give me your number."

Ikkaku handed over his soul phone. "I dunno if it works like yours."

Tatsuki fiddled around with it a bit and then handed it back. "It does. You've already got Asano's number, too."

"Yumichika did that."

"I thought guys were supposed to be good at this stuff. If you see Orihime, tell her that we're s'posed to get ramen today?"

Ikkaku nodded absently, breezed past Tatsuki out the door as his phone went off again, half-jogged down the steps and turned around at the bottom to flash her a grimace mid-conversation. Tatsuki rolled her eyes, smiled back, and shut the door.

* * *

"Yo, Vice-Cap--"

Yachiru latched like some sort of mutant squid onto Ikkaku's face as soon as they stepped through the gate and gave his ears a few hard tugs.

"-- tain."

Yumichika lured her away with a package of brightly-colored material world candies and beamed at Captain Zaraki as he turned the corner, then both he and Ikkaku ducked their heads in snappy, formal bows. Yachiru scrambled back up Ikkaku to sit on his shoulders and kick at his jaw.

"Big-Boobies'n Byakushi's sister came by!"

"... isn't Matsumoto in Karaku--?"

Rukia and Orihime turned the corner. Ikkaku cut himself off, teeth narrowly missing his tongue. Yumichika snickered, then composed himself.

Orihime waved cheerfully and smiled. Kenpachi rolled his eyes when Rukia approached and formally thanked them both for helping out Orihime during Ichigo's invasion and apologized for any inconvenience and injuries the big idiot (Ichigo, not Orihime) had inflicted on them.

"It was our pleasure. Really."

"Don't worry about it, Rukia-chan. It was fun."

"Told you," Kenpachi grunted. "Waste of time."

"Orihime-chan, Arisawa says not ta forget that you're--"

"Getting ramen with Tatsuki-chan!"

"Yeah."

Kenpachi and Rukia both raised an eyebrow.

Yachiru craned her head around to get a better look at Ikkaku's face. "Who's that, Baldie?"

"Who's who, brat?"

Kenpachi cocked his head to the side and smirked. "Who's Tatsuki, Ikkaku."

"Oh. Uh."

Rukia bit her lip and decided that she didn't know Ikkaku nearly enough to join in on the interrogation, fun as it looked. But he _was_ one of Renji's close friends, and Renji wouldn't forgive her if she left him out to dry. "She's one of Inoue's and Ichigo's classmates. We were friendly before I returned to Soul Society."

Orihime smiled and added, "Tatsuki-chan likes martial arts films and long fight shounen and she's really strong, too!"

Yachiru seemed disappointed about missing a chance to make Ikkaku squirm, so she chewed thoughtfully on his head while he briefly entertained the thought of scraping her off on the nearest wall. "So how come ya know her so well?"

"'Cause she puts up a good fight when I'm in the fake body."

"Could she beat Ken-chan?"

"No one can beat Captain."

Kenpachi rolled his eyes again and Yachiru slapped Ikkaku's shoulder in agreement. Yumichika sighed.

Rukia tried not to laugh and awkwardly cleared her throat. "I just came by to see Inoue off."

"It was nice seeing everyone again!"

Yumichika playfully flipped a strand of Orihime's hair, then beamed at her. "There's a hole right in front of the gate in Urahara-san's shop. Watch your step when you go through."

"I'll be careful! Thank you."

"Renji's gonna be fightin' that Yasutora boy. He's a dumbass, so try not ta get in their way."

"I won't!"

"Alright, get goin'."

Orihime smiled again, bowed and disappeared into the gate. Ikkaku and Yumichika turned as one to see Rukia trying (and mostly failing) to suppress her laughter.

"Something funny?"

"It's just reassuring to know that the Zaraki Division is looking out for Inoue. Thank you."

Kenpachi dismissed her with a wave and turned on Ikkaku and Yumichika. "The hell're you two doing back, anyway?"

"Ikkaku was putting off having those two teeth he lost replaced. We're doing it today."

"Lost?"

"Against the arrancar."

Ikkaku pulled the base of Hoozukimaru's hilt out with his teeth and tipped it so Kenpachi could see it was mostly empty. "Almost out of the stuff in Hoozukimaru's hilt, too. Droppin' by fourth."

Yumichika handed Kenpachi a big envelope full of reports. "It's all in here. If you have time to read it, it just details our activities in the living world. Though it's not very interesting."

Kenpachi opened it, flipped through the pages and then handed them back. "Don't have time for that. Tell me about the arrancar."

Ikkaku cut Yumichika off before he could give an actual report. "They're strong. You'd like 'em."

"I could give you all the details."

"Nah. Just wanted to know if they're strong."

Yumichika sighed at Ikkaku's smug look and tucked the envelope under his arm. "I'll just go drop these off, then."

* * *

Captain Unohana barely looked up from a patient's file as the commotion from down the hall streamed past her office and faded at the other end of the corridor, then wrapped back around the quad. She could hear strains of _Don't need a goddamn physical_ and _Do we even _have_ temperatures?_ and the familiar chatter of a few of the young healers.

Unohana stood up and met Ikkaku at the door. She noted a slight limp, his favoring his right arm, some bruises on his forearms-- and sighed.

At the sound, Ikkaku turned around like he'd been electrocuted and bowed. He'd been planning on harassing a few of the lower seats and then clearing out, but talking Captain Unohana into letting him go with all his bruises and cuts and scrapes couldn't be too hard-- he'd done it before. Though it _had_ only been in emergency situations.

"Madarame-kun."

"Yes, Captain Unohana?"

"If you're uncomfortable letting my subordinates conduct your physical, I would gladly do it myself."

"Wouldn't want you to go out of your way, Capta--"

"Oh, I insist."

Ikkaku couldn't squash the feeling that he was receiving a _very polite _threat of extreme violence. While he normally would've jumped at the chance, every nerve in his body screamed that even if he ran, she would _hunt him down_ and kill him and then bring him back just to heal him and that he didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell. It wasn't an outright challenge, though.

His sense of self-preservation strongly encouraged him to take the easy way out and he couldn't really argue with staying alive.

* * *

"Right. So I'm supposed to brief you two before you go back." Kenpachi sifted through a few papers on his desk, picked up a packet and slid it across his desk to Yumichika. "There's some classified stuff on that. I don't care if you read it."

Ikkaku waited patiently for Yumichika to finish reading, and then summarize it so he wouldn't have to look through it himself.

"It says that Aizen needs to destroy Karakura town for... something. You three won't care. There will be pillars. Ikkaku and I will be assigned with Vice-Captains Hisagi and Kira to protect them--"

"Aizen'll be in Karakura?"

"Well, that's the thing. They're transporting Karakura to Soul Society and constructing a fake Karakura. Everyone will be meeting Aizen there."

"Hm."

"Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Captain will be with us. That's all. Commander Yamamoto does expect unforeseen circumstances, though. Progress on fake Karakura has been coming along faster than expected, so we'll be called back again in as little as a week from today."

"A week? Thought we'd be there 'til winter."

"I know you're disappointed, Ikkaku~"

Ikkaku elbowed him in the shoulder. "Who's disappointed? I can't fuckin' _wait_. Is Iba-san going?"

Yumichika flipped through a few papers to check. "Yes."

"I'm gonna drop by the 7th, then we go back to Karakura. Gimme an hour."

Kenpachi nodded once, and Ikkaku took off.

"He brought back a pair of material world shades for Tetsu-san," Yumichika clarified.

Yachiru settled on her captain's back and munched on a piece of candy they had brought back for her. "Are ya gonna do boring stuff or play with me until Baldie gets back? 'Cause Byakushi says I'm not allowed ta bother him if he gives me candy. An' he did this morning."

"I'm sure we'll find something suitably destructive to do until Ikkaku comes back, Vice-Captain."

Kenpachi smirked as Yachiru launched herself off his shoulder and joined Yumichika in front of his desk. "Get outta my office."

* * *

Ikkaku met Yumichika at the gate. He had a few scrapes across his face, some cuts on his forearm and probably just as many bruises and cuts under his uniform. If he didn't look so satisfied, Yumichika would've assumed that he had lost a fight against a meat grinder. Iba probably looked worse.

"You had fun?"

"Yep."

"You know, there's a word for people who seem to like getting hurt as much as you do."

"You played with Vice-Captain?"

"And you _just_ got healed up-- is it that obvious?"

Ikkaku tugged on a bit of hair sticking out from the back of Yumichika's head, then raked his fingers through it to try and flatten it out. "Pretty obvious."

"You're making it worse!"

"Personally? I don't think it could _get_ any-- oh."

"It'll flatten out, I suppose. What?"

Ikkaku pulled a piece of candy out of Yumichika's hair and popped it into his mouth. "Found the problem."

"Oh. My. God. Ican'tbelieveyoujust_ate_that--"

"Wasting food."

Yumichika threw his hands up in defeat as Ikkaku dragged him through the gate.

* * *

Tatsuki watched Orihime pour sugar into her ramen bowl with the sort of horror she usually reserved for really weird things getting dragged out of the guys' changing room, noodles halfway to her mouth, trying not to gag. Or judge too hard.

"Orihime? Ramen is salty for a reason."

"I like sweet things, so I think ramen would taste better if it was a little bit sweet! Don't you think so, Tatsuki-chan?"

"... as long as you like it, I guess."

They ate in silence for a few more minutes. The taste of Orihime's ramen didn't deter her one bit from finishing every last bit _and_ the soup _and _it had been a large order, too. Tatsuki could eat as much as Orihime, but purposely went for the smaller order; had to keep in shape for the next tournament, after all.

Where Orihime would normally be chatting about her day, Tatsuki was pretty sure that everything she did today was supposed to be completely under wraps because of some interdimensional world-hopping. That was okay. She could deal with that. Especially since it was Orihime. Orihime wouldn't make sense if she tried to explain anyway.

"Tatsuki-chan, what did you do today?"

Tatsuki lifted the bowl up to finish off the rest of her soup, plopped it back down on the counter and waved for the check. "Nothin' much. How about you?"

"Oh... me neither." Orihime looked at Tatsuki, and Tatsuki cracked a smile back.

"Orihime."

"Tatsuki-chan?"

"Nothing. Be careful, okay?"

"I'm always careful!"

"Orihime--"

"I'm still here, right? Tatsuki-chan doesn't have to worry about me."

"Okay."

"Okay!"

Tatsuki slid off the seat and grabbed her bag, then started out the door. Orihime linked her arm through Tatsuki's, leaned on her shoulder and dragged her off for crêpes. Or juice. Or some odd combination of the two. And possibly something salty besides.

* * *

A few hours later, back in her own room, Tatsuki frowned, pursed her lips and shifted the pillow under her head a bit. She was on the floor, both feet propped up on the bed with a workbook open next to her head. The desk light was on, but studying was such a chore and she'd been doing it since she dropped Orihime off at home. After they very awkwardly didn't talk about much at all. Even after ramen, and snacks, and juice, and Orihime had invited her in to sit around and talk, but...

There was nothing to talk about that wouldn't have ended up with Orihime frantically trying to think up some lie to keep her from worrying. Tatsuki had declined cheerfully. Said she was tired, and had to study, and Orihime was busy all morning so she was probably tired, too.

Still.

She hadn't _lied._ And Orihime did look kinda worn out.

Tatsuki tilted her phone to get rid of the glare on the screen, entered a message, deleted it, entered another one. She scrolled down her contacts list, pausing briefly on Ichigo and Orihime's names as they passed, then skipping over them to stop at Ikkaku and send it before she lost her nerve.

_Hey, you busy?_


	13. Chapter 13

_Chapter XII_

Matsumoto hugged Captain Hitsugaya from behind, grinned at Ikkaku and Yumichika and _bounced_ a bit. "Aaaaand the four of us are on patrol again! Don't forget that we're all training together again in two days."

Hitsugaya huffed, crossed his arms and tried to extract his head from between her boobs. "Matsumoto and I will go ahead. You'll be taking the northern end, we'll go south. Do something about your gigai."

"Roger that."

"Understood, Captain Histugaya."

Their soul phone went off and Yumichika fished it out of Ikkaku's back pocket before he could start patting himself down to look for it. Matsumoto suppressed a snicker at that, winked at him, and whisked her captain off to start their patrol.

"What's this envelope thing mean?"

Ikkaku plucked the phone out of Yumichika's hand and pressed a few buttons. "Message."

"Ooh, is it Tatsuki-chan? I saw the name."

"... yeah."

"Do you know how to enter messages? I haven't read the manual yet."

"No one reads the manual, I'll just call back. Go ahead without me. I'll get the bodies somewhere out'a the way."

"You mean I'll _actually_ get to do something tonight? Ask if Tatsuki-chan wants to come along, but take your time." Yumichika beamed, popped a piece of soul candy into his mouth and cheerfully squeezed his shoulder before flashing off.

* * *

Tatsuki pulled her workbook off her face when the phone went off. She used a foot to drag it within reach of her arm, then picked up. Didn't even get a chance to ask who it was before--

"Somethin' happen?"

"I talked to Orihime."

"I heard. How'd that go?" Ikkaku winced a bit in sympathy-- Tatsuki wouldn't mention it unless it was important-- and tucked the phone between his ear and shoulder to search his pockets. Yumichika's body strolled aimlessly by and he snagged the back of its collar, then glared it into silence when it tried it protest.

"It was weird. You're probably busy--"

Ikkaku started down the street back towards the Asano house, dragging Yumichika's gigai behind him. "Patrol, but I got time. Talk."

"Still not telling me."

"You'll know before the year's out. Next."

"I hate how I can't even talk to Ichigo without feeling like he suddenly thinks he needs to protect me anymore. It's _stupid_."

"Hate to break it to you, but you can't handle what's about ta go down, so just trust him. I don't want you doin' anything stupid, either. Next!"

"You're an _asshole_."

Ikkaku could hear the frustrated, unwilling smile in her voice and grinned back. "Knew that already. Next?"

"Busy tomorrow morning?"

"Nah. Got anything in mind?"

"Teach me how to use the sansetsukon?"

"'S harder than a spear or a staff."

"I like a challenge."

Ikkaku snorted. "Yeah, sure. Make some ice."

"Ice?"

"For the bruises."

"Who says I'll get bruised?"

"You _will _get bruised."

"Wanna bet?"

Ikkaku's voice changed from his normal lazy drawl to something a bit more excited at the prospect of a challenge. "Wanna bet lunch?"

Tatsuki laughed. "You'll lose."

"If I lose, you pay, an' if I win, I'll pay."

"What? Why? Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

"'Cause if _I'm _right -- an' I'm always right -- you're gonna be in too much pain to reach for your wallet."

Tatsuki's eyebrow twitched. "Know what? You're on. I'm still gonna win."

Ikkaku glanced at Yumichika's body as he hung up the phone. He raised an eyebrow and threatened cheerfully, "Not a fuckin' word."

Tatsuki hung up with a helpless, crooked smirk, then got to studying. It was easier to focus with some plans, anyway.

* * *

"Ow."

"You alright?"

"Ow."

Ikkaku smirked, picked up the sansetsukon and knelt down in front of where Tatsuki sat clutching her nose. He pried her hands away from her nose and poked her forehead to make her tilt her head back. "'S not broken, but ya might bruise for a couple days."

"Ow -- no, I figured out that reiatsu thing. It'll be ugly tomorrow but after that no one'll be able to tell. Is my lip bleeding?"

"Yeah. Alright, so you're gonna remember--"

"The attack ends on the _recoil_, I know that _now_."

"I told you when we started."

"I didn't think it would _come back and hit me in the face_ when we started."

"'S been comin' back and hitting you _since_ we started."

"Yeah but not in my face." Tatsuki rubbed her shoulder and conceded that Ikkaku might have won this bet, but at least he was paying for lunch. She expected him to be smug about the win, but if anything Ikkaku had been teaching her seriously. Not with any intent to make her a master, but to get her competent with a three-sectioned-staff in as little time as possible.

Ikkaku, for his part, liked watching people get stronger. If they did because of him, all the better. "The whole point'a this weapon is flexibility. Speed and control, but you gotta start with control. 'Nother round?"

"Yeah, just... give me a minute. Are you sure you should be doing this barehanded? I got you in the shoulder."

He had ditched his shirt about an hour ago, when one of the chains on the sansetsukon had snagged on the sleeve and almost ripped a hole. It was a nice shirt, but the material was flimsy and Yumichika would complain. Ikkaku craned his neck around to get a look at the reddish mark on his shoulder, tapped a few fingers against a darker, uglier welt on his side, then grinned. "I do this kinda thing every day. When you're actually a risk with that, I'll start blockin' seriously."

"Great. Something to look forward to." Tatsuki grabbed Ikkaku's hand when he extended it and he hauled her up easily. "Where'd that one come from, anyway?"

"Spar. Yesterday. Good friend'a mine."

"Is he better than me?"

"Doesn't know judo, but he can throw a punch."

"Hm. Let's go again. I'm gonna make you start blocking seriously."

Ikkaku cracked his knuckles and rubbed the back of his neck. "My life."

"After-life."

"That too."

Tatsuki ran her tongue across her split lip and tugged on the end of the staff Ikkaku still had slung over his shoulder. "C'mon!"

Ikkaku let her have it and backed away, arms up.

* * *

Tatsuki froze for the -- hell, she didn't how many times that thing had come back and smacked her in the face-th -- time while trying to judge how the section on the end would recoil. Her hand paused on the way up to catch it and Ikkaku's arm was suddenly in her face, letting the hit bounce off before it could get her in the nose. Again.

"I could've gotten that myself."

"Uh huh."

"Thanks."

"Stop hesitating. You know where it's goin'."

"If I bring my arm up and miss--"

Ikkaku bumped the end of the staff lightly against her head. "Ya get hit in the face anyway. Weapon like this, you commit."

Tatsuki smacked his arm away and frowned. "How do you _do_ that?"

"What?"

"Know where it's going."

"Magic."

"What?"

Ikkaku checked a clock on the wall. "Practice and drills. Ten more minutes 'til lunch. Go."

"I'm not getting anywhere. These drills suck."

"Drills teach ya not to hesitate."

"You say that a lot."

"Best advice I can give you." He moved to the edge of the mat, sat down with his back against the wall, then gestured for Tatsuki to get started. "Drills make it so you never hafta _think_ in the middle of a fight."

"I know, I know."

"You're gonna have to start catchin' it yourself if you like your nose where it is."

Tatsuki rolled her eyes. "I don't even know how it's not already crooked."

"Hmm. Wake me up when when you're done."

"You're tired?"

"Patrol all night, remember?"

Tatsuki swung the last section of the staff in a few quick circles, then moved her grip back to the middle. "Do you _ever_ sleep?"

"If Yumichika doesn't talk all night, sure."

"Ichigo used to just ignore me and go back to sleep. We were seven, though."

Ikkaku was, for all appearances, already asleep. But he had enough experience talking through half-consciousness that Tatsuki wouldn't have been able to tell if she hadn't been looking straight at him. "You ever tried ignoring Yumichika? Don't."

* * *

Ten minutes later, Tatsuki had figured out how to catch the last section of the sansetsukon. Partly because if she didn't and it got her in the nose -- again -- it would hurt. A lot. More than the first few times, and Ikkaku wasn't around to make sure the hardest hits didn't connect because he was _asleep against the wall_. Tatsuki couldn't really fault him for it, though.

Besides, after ten minutes were up and he didn't (through some strange supernatural inner clock) wake up, Tatsuki decided to let him sleep for a bit longer and went off to take a shower.

She arrived back in time to see Ikkaku awake, and doing his own drills with the normal staff. Stepping hard, moving the staff like he'd been using one since the day he was born. The lightest touches sent it spinning in whatever direction he wanted it to, sharp eyes following every arc, every swing, every thrust. Tatsuki's arms had started hurting after the first half hour or so, but Ikkaku looked like he could keep it up all day without breaking a sweat. She grinned.

"Looking good, you showoff."

Ikkaku grinned back, clamped the staff down against his side with his elbow as it swung up, then dropped it and reached for his shirt. "Shower?"

"Yeah. How...?"

"Heard the water going. Pipes're behind that wall."

Tatsuki frowned, pursed her lips and said, "I was gonna let you sleep for a while."

"Hey, more'n enough time. Hungry?"

"_Starving_. Wanna get Ayasegawa to come with us?"

Ikkaku tossed her his phone while he started picking up the weapons. "Call him up."

* * *

Yumichika linked an arm through Tatsuki's, snagged Ikkaku by a belt loop and dragged them both into a Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki restaurant, "Because Tetsu-san wouldn't forgive us if we had it any other way!"

Ikkaku flashed him a crooked smirk that Tatsuki had come to recognize as his warmest, most affectionate expression and Yumichika beamed back.

"Who's Tetsu-san?" she asked once they had all settled down.

Ikkaku drummed three fingers against his side. "Vice Captain of the Seventh Division. Useta outrank him. Great guy."

"Ohh."

Yumichika brushed his hair behind an ear and said, voice dry, "I swear, every time those two meet, someone ends up in the infirmary. Ikkaku likes it rough, you know."

Ikkaku choked on a mouthful of water and ducked his head behind the table so he wouldn't spew any of it onto the griddle or their food. He settled for smacking Yumichika on the shoulder for implying that he and Iba-san ever did anything besides _fight _and_ drink_. 'Cause that's all they do, okay?

Tatsuki snickered, paused briefly at Ikkaku's offended glare, then outright burst into laughter. He scowled back and jabbed impatiently at the okonomiyaki cooking on the griddle, but Yumichika elbowed him on the arm and his expression relaxed again.

Tatsuki picked up one of the spatulas after Ikkaku finally put it down and absently prodded at the edges of the okonomiyaki. "You know, I've never had it like this before."

Yumichika reacted with mock-horror while Ikkaku settled into his usual resigned expression and slouched into his seat.

"Never?"

"No, the place I usually go to is Osaka-style."

Yumichika exchanged a glance with Ikkaku before he grinned and started portioning out the okonomiyaki. "Then it's a good thing we're introducing you now, hm?"

"Why's that?"

"Everyone in our division does everything Hiroshima style," Ikkaku supplied unhelpfully. It had been at Iba's insistence at first, and nothing else ever worked out for the man, so the division eventually adopted his style. To counteract his shitty luck.

"What's that got to do with me?"

Ikkaku ran his teeth along the edge of his glass of water and grinned. "When you die an' join the Gotei-13, you'll be goin' straight to 11th."

Tatsuki took a second to be torn between being pleased that they had already decided that she'd end up a soul reaper-- with them no less, and freaked out that they had _already decided that she would be a soul reaper_. With them. It showed in her face, probably. "I haven't even started cramming for college yet and you're already making plans for when I die?"

"Not everyone goes to college, but everyone dies eventually, Tatsuki-chan."

"And for you, better not be for a good long time, got it?"

She nodded slowly. At least they weren't planning on her dying any time soon, but hell, Tatsuki figured she had a few good decades ahead of her. Even if the idea of going to Soul Society was pretty intriguing. "Do I at least get a tour of Seireitei or whatever? I mean, even Ichigo and Orihime were there."

"Maybe after this assignment's over."

"Yeah, figure the men could always use some ah, incentive ta do better."

"Huh?"

Yumichika shook his head and started eating. Ikkaku made a vague sort of 'forget-about-it' wave and said, "You could probably kick most'a their asses. Be pretty funny."

"Though of course that's not the only reason you want her to visit, right, Ikkaku?"

Ikkaku's tone said that he actually couldn't think of any other reason Tatsuki should visit or would be able to make herself useful, but he agreed anyway. "Yeah. Sure. Plenty'a other things. Maybe."

Tatsuki didn't bother suppressing her grin, and kicked him hard under the table. Yumichika laughed, leaned close to Ikkaku's ear and drawled, "We've been _flirting_ with the idea of recruiting humans with potential, anyway~"

Ikkaku put a hand on Yumichika's face and shoved him back down into his seat.


	14. Chapter 14

_Chapter XIV_

They had only just stepped out of the restaurant when both Ikkaku and Yumichika's soul phones went off. They glanced at Tatsuki, exchanged a look and while Ikkaku checked the hollow, Yumichika dug his soul candy dispenser out of a pocket. Ikkaku pointed down the street, hand-signaled 'six', and Yumichika took off. Ikkaku snagged Yumichika's body and started down the street in the direction he had gone, motioning for Tatsuki to follow.

Tatsuki tugged on Ikkaku's sleeve to get his attention. "You should go ahead. I'll watch your bodies."

"Don't wanna see Yumichika fight?"

Tatsuki bit her lip. She really did want to go, but she'd rather make herself useful than act as the tag-along human Ikkaku had to keep an eye on. "Can I catch up? You should be helping him out anyway. Or at least, you know, making sure he'll be okay."

She started when Ikkaku's hand dropped onto her head, and he leaned down a bit to look her in the eye. "Sure you'll be alright? This guy's," and at that, he gives Yumichika's body's shoulder a quick shake, "kinda a dick."

"I'll be fine."

Ikkaku flipped his soul candy dispenser into the air, caught it as it came down and popped a piece into his mouth. "Leave it to you, then."

He clapped her on the shoulder just before flashing off, and Tatsuki snagged both Yumichika's and Ikkaku's bodies by their belt loops before they could go and do something stupid.

_

* * *

_

Ikkaku joined Yumichika in time to catch sight of a ghost darting behind a wall and Yumichika just barely cutting off a hollow before it had a chance to go after her. As soon as Yumichika saw Ikkaku out of the corner of his eye, he switched to the offensive, letting Ikkaku know in no uncertain terms that this was _his_ hollow and Ikkaku gets to go after the ghost this time.

He rolled his eyes and ducked behind the building, almost tripped over the ghost (_the hell's up with all the dead kids in this town, shit_) and snagged her by the back of her shirt before she had a chance to take off again. He could hear Yumichika clashing with the hollow behind him, and as long as the fight sounds didn't stop, Ikkaku wasn't about to be worried.

She looked about ready to take off when Ikkaku shifted Hoozukimaru onto his shoulder, but relaxed again when he crouched down to get at eye level. It had been a while since he had to talk down a ghost, but send them off when they were still freaked out and they were in for a lot of pain. Ikkaku wasn't normally a considerate sort of guy, but once in a while he could be bothered to make the effort.

The ghost tugged on his sleeve and made a face. "Why's your friend fighting that thing?"

"It's called a hollow. You've got other things ta worry about."

"Oh."

"Gotta stamp your forehead." He flashed the bottom of Hoozukimaru's hilt to prove that it didn't secretly have a knife embedded in it or something. "Takes you to Soul Society."

"Is it scary?"

"Not really."

"Okay."

"Good girl."

Ikkaku moved slowly, like he was trying not to scare off a frightened rabbit or something. Gently stamped her forehead, took a second to hope she ended up in one of the lower-numbered districts before slinging Hoozukimaru back over his shoulder and straightening back up. He turned at the sound of a shoe scuffing the ground and nodded at Tatsuki.

She cocked her head to the side and flashed him a half-smile. "I didn't know you were good with kids. It's actually kinda cute."

He scowled back. "You walk too fast."

Tatsuki hauled his and Yumichika's bodies around the corner and made them both stand at attention against the wall. She looked curiously at the spot the ghost had disappeared from and then frowned. "Looped around the block since there're people on the street. Why're there so many ghost kids in this town? It's not like they die more in Karakura or anything."

Ikkaku shrugged. "No idea. Maybe ask Yumichika, he actually pays attention when we get told this stuff. Worse with 'em than I am, though."

"You weren't bad at all, I thought. Maybe you could babysit for a living," she teased back.

Yumichika strolled around the corner like a satisfied tomcat, straightening his uniform and brushing his hair out of his eyes before diving back into his body and adjusting his jacket. "He already does, Tatsuki-chan."

"Oh really?"

Ikkaku flexed his arms and hands a few times as soon as he was back in the gigai and shot his partner a warning look. "_Yumichika_."

"You didn't tell her about Vice-Captain? I'm disappointed, Ikkaku."

"Vice-Captain?"

Ikkaku grabbed for Tatsuki to put her in a headlock and maybe distract her while Yumichika began to expound on how much abuse Yachiru put him (and the rest of the division) through, but she ducked easily out of reach and then put Yumichika between them.

"Her name is Kusajishi Yachiru, and she's about, oh, comes up to just past his knees, I think-"

Ikkaku reached around Yumichika, but he kept Tatsuki behind him and moved away.

"_Yumichika._"

"Likes to chew on his head, kicks him whenever she wants to-"

Tatsuki flashed him a smirk from around Yumichika's arm. "No joke? _Wow, _she sounds adorable-"

"And did you know he keeps candy up his sleeves? Honestly, Ikkaku likes Vice-Captain more than anyone-"

"That's so _cute_-"

"_Yumichika shut up my reputation-_"

"Was never really all that great with Tatsuki-chan anyway."

"Well, my impression did get better after the first time we met."

Ikkaku grimaced at the memory and then grudgingly smiled back when Yumichika bumped him on the arm.

"Feeling better?"

"'Bout what?"

"Oh give me a break, Ikkaku, I know you hate having to bury children."

"He does? Why?"

Ikkaku shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yumichika's thinkin' too much. _As usual_."

"It gets a little rough out in Rukongai, depending on where you end up." Yumichika shrugged. "No one likes to send anyone there, but-"

"We gotta, an' there's no point talkin' about it. Let it go, Yumichika."

Tatsuki squeezed his arm and said, a bit sympathetically, "I already know you're a huge softie. It's okay."

"I fuckin' hate you both."

"And they remind him of Vice-Captain."

"Yumichika!"

Yumichika backed up to lean against the wall with his arms crossed across his chest and motioned for Ikkaku and Tatsuki to go on ahead. "That aside, don't you two have some more damage to inflict on each other?"

Tatsuki flashed Ikkaku a smile and shrugged, then looked at Yumichika. "It'd be fun if you came, too."

Yumichika waved airily. "I think I'm busy, but I'll come next time."

Ikkaku cocked his head to the side, frowned, nodded once, then pressed a hand to Tatsuki's back and nudged her down the street. "Go ahead first. I'll get some drinks an' we'll meet ya back at your place."

Tatsuki took off down the street and Ikkaku made a vaguely apologetic gesture when he turned to address Yumichika again. "Should've noticed earlier, 's my mistake. Turn around."

Yumichika pursed his lips. "I'm fine."

"Yumichika."

He turned a bit and slid his jacket off his shoulders so Ikkaku could see a trickle of blood seeping through his shirt from a cut on his back, though it wasn't bleeding so heavily that it would soak through to his pants. If he concentrated a bit harder, Ikkaku could easily pick out Yumichika suppressing it with his spiritual pressure.

"See? Nothing. It'll heal in no time."

"Dumbass, don't just leave it like that. Asano house's on the way. Get it taken care of."

"When did you get so thoughtful, Ikkaku? I thought I was hiding it so well."

"I'm always thoughtful! An' you didn't have plans today." And, Ikkaku didn't add, there's no chance Yumichika would pass up a chance to laze around with him when they didn't have anything better to do.

"Maybe half the time. And I do now."

"_All_ the time."

Yumichika laughed, brushed past Ikkaku and led the way back. "Of course."

* * *

Ikkaku clomped into the basement with a bag of drinks, as promised, slung over one shoulder, with Yumichika in tow. Tatsuki grinned at them, then leveled the staff in Ikkaku's face as he approached.

"Wanna see how hard I can smack you with this now?"

"Try."

Yumichika vacated the area and settled on the steps. Tatsuki took a swing at Ikkaku's face, but he caught the staff before it could connect and jerked it backwards so Tatsuki lost her balance and stumbled into him. Ikkaku steadied her with a hand on the shoulder, and she brushed her hair out of her face.

"I hate it when you do that."

"Uh huh."

Yumichika stretched his arms and sighed. "You were telegraphing, Tatsuki-chan."

"No one in the club ever notices."

Ikkaku handed back the staff and picked up the sansetsukon she had discarded in the corner. "We're not your club."

"I get more power if I let my arm swing out."

Ikkaku made a vague wave in Yumichika's direction and bumped her knee adjust her stance, then adjusted her grip on the staff. He'd done it earlier, but Tatsuki kept falling back into the habit of holding it like a sword. Hands too close together, stance not wide or solid enough. She was letting her karate (and, he supposed manga-reading) bleed into it.

Yumichika brushed his hair out of his eyes and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. "But then your opponent knows how you attack. It's a small sacrifice, but in the end, you'll have the upper hand."

"Are you two reading each other's minds?"

"Nah. He's been fightin' years longer than you."

Tatsuki rubbed her nose. "I'm good, though."

"Age and experience trumps talent, Tatsuki-chan. And I'm simply loaded with all three."

Tatsuki rolled her eyes. "Okay, now who wants their ass kicked?"

Ikkaku tossed Yumichika the shinai.

"Looks like I'm up. Though the one administering an ass-kicking will be me."

* * *

"I think," Tatsuki said after a while, "we should both pummel Ikkaku and see how he likes it."

Yumichika shrugged. "Two on one isn't his style."

Ikkaku stood up, wiped his hands on his jeans and scooped up the three-sectioned staff. "'S alright when I'm the one. Won't go easy on either'a you, though."

"Look at him being all overconfident! I bet we can take him."

Yumichika knew Ikkaku's strength better than anyone, but he shrugged and hefted the shinai in his hands. Him and Tatsuki, when they were all in human bodies? No problem. "Well. I suppose we can _try_."

Ikkaku wrapped the chain of the sansetsukon around his bicep, caught the end and pulled so the last section flipped in a graceful arc and landed in his other hand with a dull smack. "Yumichika knows what he's gettin' into. You'll learn."

Tatsuki licked her lips in a predatory way that actually sent a chill down Yumichika's spine. And might have, for a few seconds, made him fear for Ikkaku's life. Ikkaku, on the other hand, just grinned back and tangled the chain of his sansetsukon around her staff when she went for him, jerked it out of her hands and smacked her across the shoulder with it. Then he handed it back and motioned for her to get ready again.

Yumichika shifted his grip on the shinai and circled around behind Ikkaku, taking a swing at his neck that he knew would be blocked. Tatsuki closed in from the front as soon as Yumichika's blow bounced off the section he had blocked with, and threw a kick at his ribs just for good measure.

Ikkaku deflected the staff, took the kick with a grunt, clamped his arm down on her leg and reeled her in to swipe out a foot and knock her last leg out from under her. Tatsuki landed awkwardly on her hands, kicked her other leg up before Ikkaku had a chance to knock her over and distracted him long enough for Yumichika to poke him between the shoulderblades with the shinai.

"That's a point. I think we have one very dead Madarame Ikkaku on our hands."

"... hm."

Tatsuki got to her feet, grinning, and high-fived Yumichika. "And _that's_ called teamwork."

Yumichika moved to the left and Tatsuki mirrored the movement on his right. Ikkaku bared his teeth and rolled his shoulders. "Alright. I got it now."


	15. Chapter 15

_Chapter XV_

"Ow. Ow. Ow ow ow owwww." Tatsuki sat gingerly down on the floor, collapsed onto her back and stretched, relishing the feel of cool mats on her arms and neck and back. Ikkaku silently nursed a bruise on his shoulder and tried to balance the staff between his knees and against his chest while Yumichika held a pack of ice to his own elbow. Yumichika shot him a baleful sort of look and stood up slowly to grab the drinks they had bought earlier. They were still pretty cold, at least.

"I think I'm done for the day. Ikkaku, Tatsuki-chan?"

Tatsuki gratefully accepted a bottle and then pressed it to the crook of her neck, eyes slipping shut and hissing slightly at the cold. "I want to keep going. Once I can lift my arms again."

Yumichika glanced at Ikkaku's face and caught him grinning appreciatively at her before he finally looked over. "I got time. You're gonna head back now?"

"Before you start hogging the bath? Yes."

Ikkaku paused for a second, and then he scowled. "I don't hog the bath."

Tatsuki snickered at Yumichika's eyeroll and raised a hand for him to slap as he passed her to get to the stairs. "You know where the door is?"

"I do take note of my surroundings when I enter a new area, Tatsuki-chan. Unlike a certain someone."

Ikkaku sputtered indignantly at the crack (he does take note, he just tends to _forget unimportant things_). "_Hey_!"

"Careful on your way back!"

Yumichika turned around about halfway up to the steps and waited for Ikkaku to wave him off before disappearing around the corner. "Always am!"

* * *

"Right, okay. _Now_ I'm done." Tatsuki slid down the wall, sore and tired and sweaty and pulled the collar of her t-shirt away from her neck. Ikkaku settled down far away enough that he wouldn't crowd, but pulled off his own shirt and used it to mop up his face and neck. He probably could've kept it up for a few more hours, but Tatsuki trained for speed and power. Not so much stamina. And Ikkaku didn't have the energy or time to get on her about it, especially since she would work it out herself eventually.

"I'm gonna head back soon, then." Ikkaku rubbed the back of his neck, but made no move to get up. Tatsuki had, at some point, figured out that even if she couldn't knock him over with a sweep, she could still break him down by aiming for his legs. For now, they were pleasantly numb. Wait much longer and they'd start aching.

"Take your time. I'd walk you up but I won't be walking for another ten minutes."

He nodded absently, pressed two hands against the wall and shifted forward to lay flat on his back, eyes shut and shirt crumpled up in the crook of his shoulder. He stretched his arms out to the side, arched his back, yawned, and then settled back down. Hoozukimaru snidely commented that maybe he should sit in on some academy classes if he was going to let a fight with a human girl wear him out, and Ikkaku snapped back that maybe he should look into what happens to soul cutters when they get melted down and recycled.

Tatsuki spared Ikkaku a glance while he stretched (it was hard _not_ to notice, really), pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around. If they were going to lounge around, then at least talking would cut down on the awkward silences. "What were you doing picking fights with the guys behind the school, anyway?"

"Testing this body out. Some punk picked a fight, an' I figured- why not."

She made a disgusted sort of face. "So I won 'cause you were new to the body? If I knew that, I would've taken it easy on you."

Ikkaku mirrored her face and reached over to rap her knee with his knuckles. "Nah, you won 'cause you can fight. All there is to it."

Tatsuki mulled that over, then grinned back. "Yeah, okay. I can accept that."

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, and then Ikkaku hauled himself to his feet. Tatsuki watched him stretch again, put his shirt back on, then scoop up his wallet and phone from where he'd left them on a nearby chair. He swaggered back over to her, extended a hand and pulled Tatsuki to her feet. "I should go."

"Yeah. It's getting late." Tatsuki elbowed Ikkaku lightly in the ribs while she checked her watch. "We'll do this again sometime, right?"

"'Course," he said, and clapped her hard on the shoulder.

* * *

Ikkaku paused by the kitchen table and leaned over to get a better look at a stack of papers. "Is that you?"

"Is what me?"

"Hey, it is. What I want to be in five years-"

Tatsuki practically dove across the kitchen to shove him away from her old assignment. "_Don't look at it!_"

Ikkaku craned his head around while Tatsuki pushed at his back, bracing his feet against the floor. "You drew that? 'S not bad."

"It was just an assignment. Go home! Go!"

He ruffled her hair and then turned to get away from her pushing. "Going, going. Ya draw a lot?"

"Not really. I like vale tudo better."

Tatsuki couldn't tell if that was incredulity or pride in Ikkaku's expression (probably some mixture of both) but he nodded once, decisively, and grinned. "Champion of the world ain't a bad goal."

"'Ain't a bad goal,' he says. 'Course it's not. It's the one I decided on."

* * *

It was sunset by the time Ikkaku stepped out of Tatsuki's door. He would've been disturbed at the sheer amount of time he spent sparring with her, but it would take so much more energy than he was capable of mustering. It was sunset, though, and the streetlights had come on by the time he arrived back at the Asano house. Yumichika motioned lazily at the dinner Mizuho had laid out for them (only Ikkaku, really, but she had enough tact to make enough for everyone) and cheerfully called Mizuho out of her room.

He and Keigo had already eaten, after all. If Ikkaku hadn't waited so _long_ to finish up with Tatsuki-chan, then maybe he wouldn't have to eat dinner with just Mizuho-chan. And it was so _rude_ to make her wait, too.

Ikkaku's reply had been a glare that expressed only the deepest kind of loathing, then resignation as Mizuho latched herself to his arm and dragged him towards the table. She wasn't ugly or uninteresting or even particularly hard to be around, but it was pretty damn uncomfortable. For him. Keigo and Yumichika were enjoying themselves way more than they should've been.

* * *

Tatsuki wanted to hug Orihime when they met outside Orihime's house, but she didn't. It hadn't been very long, but between her showing up to class late and taking off right afterwards without waiting (or even so much as a quick farewell and _Have fun at judo club, Tatsuki-chan!_) and being distracted even through lunch, it felt good to have Orihime's undivided attention for at least a late dinner.

She looked tired, spiritual pressure worn and depleted, but satisfied and confident. Tatsuki recognized it; it was the same as when she had taught Orihime how to pull off a roundhouse kick with perfect form, speed, and had spent the entire day training her reflexes to execute it at the drop of a hat in case some creeper tried to come onto her. Orihime never did use the kick for its intended purpose, but her kicks and blocks could put any club member to shame.

Orihime cheerfully linked their arms. "Ramen again, Tatsuki-chan?"

She liked ramen as much as anyone, but Tatsuki shook her head and started down the street. "How about okonomiyaki? I just found a nice place."

Orihime didn't ask how, because even though Tatsuki rarely went out to eat by herself, and the club only ever stopped by a few places after practice, and they normally explored new places to eat together, she knew not to ask questions when she didn't want to answer any herself.

* * *

Ikkaku stepped out of the bathroom and into the guestroom with his pants on and a towel slung over his shoulders, steam still coming off his back. Yumichika looked up from his place on the bed and stared at him until he finally realized and stared back. "What?"

"Nothing."

Ikkaku turned away to find a shirt. "Then quit lookin' at me."

"You know she likes you, right?"

He wiped his face with the end of his towel and glanced at Yumichika. Asking vague questions. Waiting for him to say something stupid. Ikkaku didn't think he meant Mizuho because. Yeah, no shit she liked him, all she ever did was hang off his arm. That would pass, eventually. "Alright, who are we talkin' about here?"

"Tatsuki-chan, of course."

A moment passed where Yumichika actually though Ikkaku had gone catatonic, but he looked, if anything, thoughtful. "What?"

Yumichika threw a pillow at his head. "You _know_ what I'm talking about. Stop trying to pretend I don't know you as well as I do. She has a crush on you. And if she didn't before, she definitely does now."

Ikkaku caught it, then threw it back. "Huh."

"You're strong, you're upfront with her in ways that I'm sure would send Kurosaki Ichigo into spasms should he find out." Yumichika put a hand to his temple like explaining to Ikkaku was giving him a headache. "You're training with her, you're dangerous and exciting and new. And, as Mizuho-chan has so readily proven, you don't look bad at all. Of _course_ she likes you."

Ikkaku's frowned, rubbed the back of his neck and stared at a corner of the ceiling. "Yeah, I know."

"Since when?"

"While ago."

"You're not going to do anything stupid are you?" Yumichika teased, though Ikkaku picked up an undercurrent of seriousness in his voice.

Noncommittally, "Nah."

"Tatsuki-chan's too cute for you to be stringing along, Ikkaku. If you just need something to keep you occupied, find someone who won't get attached."

He snorted, then pulled the towel off his shoulders and tugged on a shirt. "Who says I'm just keepin' busy? Someone wants ta get stronger, I'll train 'em."

"She's still alive."

Ikkaku absently rubbed his cheek and tried to work out exactly what the hell Yumichika was trying to imply. For all the ways they could practically have a conversation just by making eye contact, sometimes Yumichika just didn't make any fucking sense. "Arisawa's a smart kid. An' she'll be a monster when she dies."

"You just turned it into such an ugly, morbid conversation, Ikkaku. And that wasn't my point."

"So what's your point?"

"You know my point."

"Yeah, yeah. Got nothin' to worry about."

"Oh, yes," Yumichika drawled. "That's reassuring."

"I'm serious!"

"Well, I believe that you don't _think_ I have anything to worry about, but your definition of worrying things and my definition of worrying things have proven to be drastically different in all the years we've known each other."

Ikkaku shrugged him off. "Got no idea what you just said. But just trust me."

* * *

Orihime's room was familiar territory. It had been a while, but Tatsuki slipped back into the routine like they had never left it, and she shifted to sit on the pillow instead of on her ankle. Orihime smiled over her cup of juice and leaned forward. "Tatsuki-chan, you've been having fun, right?"

"Huh? Yeah, 'course I have!"

"Because of...?"

Orihime didn't finish her sentence, but Tatsuki knew she meant Ikkaku and Yumichika. She probably didn't know that Tatsuki had been going out and taking on hollows with them, but it's not as if that was crucial information. Tatsuki didn't think Orihime knew that she even knew they were soul reapers, which worked out just fine for her.

She flexed her arm and clapped a hand over her shoulder. "Well, I'm learning a lot of new ways to fight! Do you really think I'm not having fun?"

"I'm glad!"

Tatsuki leaned back on her hands, straightened her legs out, wiggled her toes and grinned back. "You're getting to know Ichigo better too, right?"

"A little better than I did last summer!"

Tatsuki waited for Orihime to bring the cup up to her lips and start drinking before she asked, "So did you jump him yet?"

Orihime choked and just barely managed not to spit juice all over the table before she squeaked, "Tatsuki-chan!"

* * *

Yumichika sighed, leaned back on the pillows and nudged Ikkaku with his foot. "I just got a call from Rangiku-san. She says everything's normal and we have twenty minutes before our shift starts."

Ikkaku grunted irritably from his position at the foot of the bed and rolled off to stand and stretch. He snagged the pants he had worn earlier that day off a chair and reached into the pocket for his soul candy dispenser while Yumichika began to rifle through the bedside drawer for his.

"'S it really our shift?"

"That might be why I said it is, Ikkaku."

Ikkaku frowned, sat down on the floor with his back to the bed and let his head drop onto the mattress. "We can't make Renji do it?"

"As it turns out, Urahara-san pulled some strings so the Yasutora boy would have someone to train with pretty much all the time. He just happened to be available as long as the rest of us pick up his shifts."

"Loses every fight an' still gets to do the fun shit."

"Ikkaku!"

"What? He won't take it personally."

Yumichika shook his head and popped a piece of soul candy into his mouth. "Time to move. We get to have fun tomorrow. Training. Getting stronger. You know, fun stuff."

Ikkaku rolled his eyes. "No, I get to argue about bankai with Hoozukimaru for hours. _Fun stuff._"

Yumichika paused by the window, one foot already out. "Well, as long as you've got plans. I don't suppose the other night was enough to convince you to work on it? Renji's catching up."

"Nah. 'S good for him."

Yumichika's expression was a little nostalgic, but he just shrugged and waited outside. "Come on, if you want any time at all to sleep tonight."

* * *

"You know how I used to complain about the guys in the club who'd lose and say they took it easy on me?" Tatsuki folded her arms over the low table and dropped her head to rest her chin on a wrist. "He doesn't do that."

Orihime tilted her head to the side to look Tatsuki in the eyes and smiled. Back when Yachiru-chan had first intercepted her and Maki-Maki and dragged them off to meet their captain, she had felt both Ikkaku and Yumichika probing her curiously with their own spiritual energy. People who fight and people who don't- they had sorted her firmly into the latter before she had even opened her mouth to say hi. It wasn't about whether someone was a guy or a girl for that division (being outranked by a little girl who comes up to your knees would do that to anyone), but whether or not someone could fight.

"He wouldn't, Tatsuki-chan. Do you like him?"

Tatsuki sighed, rubbed her eyes and shrugged. "It's just- y'know. I fit in with the guys until I start beating them, and _then_ they suddenly remember I'm a girl. He doesn't even notice one way or another. It's kinda nice."

"Have _you_ jumped him yet?"

"You know, _technically_..." Tatsuki looked up and saw a sad sort of look on Orihime's face. Right, yeah. But she wasn't supposed to know. "It's not like I _like_ him or anything. He's just... fun to fight." And that wasn't even a lie. Tatsuki was never in the habit of lying to herself, or to Orihime. They didn't tell each other everything- every friendship needs some distance- but as far as she was concerned, there wasn't much to tell.

"Tatsuki-chan?"

"Yeah?"

"Be careful, okay?"

Tatsuki knew Orihime didn't mean Ikkaku and Yumichika- if anything, they would bail her out of any situation she might get caught in while they were around. She probably meant whatever was going to happen soon. Whatever had knocked out the judo club so badly that time nearly a month ago. Something Orihime would be caught up in, but tried her exclude her best friend from.

Tatsuki shrugged, flashed her an easy smile and took another sip of juice. "Yeah. You too, Orihime."


	16. Chapter 16

_Chapter XVI_

Matsumoto sighed, and Ikkaku could almost see the words _I need a metric fuckton of booze_ scroll through her mind. He made a mental note to drag her out for one (or more) later, and ducked his head in a quick, informal bow as Captain Hitsugaya walked through some trees into the training area. Hoozukimaru stirred excitedly in the back of his mind- it had been a while since they had properly communed, and even if they weren't necessarily going to train, Hoozukimaru would spend most of that time telling him how much _fun_ bankai was. At least once he got off his lazy ass and put his mind to it.

Urahara had picked the space, just outside of Karakura Town, and sealed it off to humans. It was safe to train there, though they were supposed to keep destruction to a minimum.

Yumichika turned Fuji Kujaku distastefully by the hilt, watched the reflection of the sun hit the trunk of a tree, and then settled under it with his sword laid across his knees. Matsumoto draped an arm over Ikkaku's knee while he hunkered down on a flat rock and sighed at him. Ikkaku responded by drawing Hoozukimaru, setting the scabbard beside his leg and giving Matsumoto a long, impassive look.

And then he glanced over to make sure Captain Hitsugaya wasn't looking, mimed taking a long drink and mouthed, _Tonight._

She blew him a kiss, patted him on the knee and joined Yumichika under the tree.

It didn't take long at all for Yumichika and Matsumoto to start yelling at each other. Or for the sky to split open. Or for Ikkaku to start cursing his luck.

* * *

Some time later, Ikkaku peeled off his shirt and sank to the ground, patting Ururu on the head when she handed him a roll of bandages.

Sado had already left, to check on the rest of his friends when the soul reapers limped in. Renji's main concern had been Hitsugaya's company and Rukia, but he had come back after making sure Rukia was alright.

"Are you sure you're both okay? Ikkaku-san doesn't look so happy."

Ikkaku shot him a glare that could strip paint from walls. Renji grimaced, held up both hands in surrender and quickly made an excuse to leave. He might outrank them both now, but it didn't change the fact that he'd been both Yumichika's and Ikkaku's subordinate for the better part of forty years. A promotion five months ago couldn't even begin to wear away all those decades of deferring to them.

As soon as Renji was gone, Ikkaku glanced over at Yumichika and made a face. "So. Today didn't go as planned."

Yumichika's reply dripped _acid_. Burning, poisonous acid. "_I couldn't tell._"

Ikkaku prodded at a few livid bruises on his torso and motioned for Yumichika to join him. "Look at that. Couple ribs, at least. I got off easy. Siddown."

Stiffly, "Maybe once I can move my knees again."

Ikkaku let Yumichika use his shoulder to gingerly lower himself to sit beside him and then he started to wrap his arm with one hand and his teeth. He'd done it enough times in Rukongai, with less material, experience and mobility, broken fingers, more badly wounded, without Yumichika, half-conscious...

Yumichika gave him a long look when he tied off the bandage with a little more force than strictly necessary, and held out a hand for the roll. "I'll do the rest of it. At least as long as Tessai-san doesn't interrupt."

"Can't move your knees, but elbows're okay?" Ikkaku raised his arms anyway, so Yumichika could get started on his ribs. He kept his expression carefully blank, but couldn't quite suppress the occasional hiss whenever Yumichika tugged on the bandages. The bones were knitting themselves relatively quickly, but it was tiring and ate up more spiritual energy than Ikkaku could really spare without a healer. Tessai stepped into the training area with a massive first-aid kit and Yumichika gave Ikkaku a look that said, _You're on your own, partner; I don't like you _that _much._

Urahara looked on with a thoughtful sort of expression, then moved off to the side to talk to Captain Hitsugaya. Ikkaku caught Matsumoto's eye once Tessai finished with him and grimaced. "Looks like we're not goin' out tonight."

Matsumoto flashed him a pained sort of smile and went to join her captain.

* * *

Tatsuki hit redial on her phone for the third time, and waited for Orihime to pick up. It was usually 'busy', or 'out of area', and Tatsuki understood that to mean that Orihime was in Soul Society. She had correlated timing with Yumichika, and Orihime always picked up her phone. She was physically incapable of ignoring people, and kept it on her in case one of her friends needed her help. The only time she didn't pick up calls was when her phone wasn't receiving signals.

Orihime's reiatsu had disappeared.

Not 'grown so faint as to be nearly undetectable', as it tended to do when she was training in Soul Society. Half the time, Tatsuki could swear she could even pick up the way Orihime's spiritual pressure would flicker, surge and flare, though she figured it was just her imagination.

It had _disappeared_, and she wasn't picking her up her phone, and her phone was clearly on and no one was picking up, and Orihime _never_ forgot her phone.

Tatsuki sat down on the steps in front of Orihime's house, snarled, called Ichigo (though he rarely picked up anyway, and preferred to return calls, and he had told her he lost his phone a few weeks ago and a brainless airhead like Ichigo _would _forget to replace his cellphone), hung up when it directed her straight to voicemail and frantically scrolled back through her contacts list.

Every problem has an ass, Tatsuki figured. All you had to do was find out where it was and kick it.

She was having a little trouble.

* * *

Ikkaku dragged his phone out of his uniform sleeve when it went off, frowned at the screen, then headed for the exit of Urahara's training area, where they had left their bodies. "I'm goin' out."

"What happened, Ikkaku? I didn't get any orders."

"Dunno."

"Is it Tatsuki-chan?"

"Who else?"

"What did it say? Is it urgent?"

"Just says, Hey we need ta talk."

Yumichika started to get to his feet, froze when he was barely a few centimeters off the ground, then lowered himself back down. "Looks like I won't be going with you for this. Give me a call if it's important."

Ikkaku's expression was serious and thoughtful (always was, when they have a particularly bad day), but he just shrugged. "Stay here. You shouldn't be runnin' around town anyway."

"You should talk." Yumichika motioned above his own eyebrow, then gestured at Ikkaku. "And you're still bleeding. We'll need to patch up your gigai as soon as you're in it, too."

He wiped a trickle of blood away before it could drip into his eye, then wiped his hands off on his uniform before diving back into the artifical body.

* * *

As soon as Tatsuki felt Ikkaku's spiritual pressure melt out of some barrier, she flared her own and turned the phone in her hands while she waited. When he arrived nearly ten minutes later, she stood up to meet him, breezily ignoring the irritated expression on his face. He flashed her the message on his soul phone, tucked it back into a pocket and crossed his arms over his chest. "This better be an emergency."

Tatsuki could see the outline of bandages through Ikkaku's shirt, but she had more important things to worry about at the moment. "Where's Orihime?"

Ikkaku took a second to make a cursory check over Karakura. "She's in Soul Society."

"She's not."

"Where the hell else would she be?"

Tatsuki gestured vaguely. "I can always sense Orihime. Even when she's in Soul Society, and even when she's in- Okinawa or something. I can't sense her at all anymore. She's just gone."

"That's- hold on." Ikkaku reached for his phone again and dialed up Yumichika. Captain Hitsugaya had more authority, but Yumichika was the one who held onto direct communication back to Seireitei. He heard a click, and then-

"Ikkaku?"

"It's me. You know where Orihime-chan is?"

"She's in Soul Society, isn't she? And if not, she'll have gotten back a few hours ago."

"Check. Rukia-chan and Urahara. See if anyone saw her leave Soul Society."

"I'll need a few minutes."

"Thanks."

Ikkaku hung up, but held onto the phone. A few minutes of silence passed and Tatsuki glanced at his hand, then his face, then his hand again and shifted nervously in place. Ikkaku rolled his eyes and clamped a hand down on her shoulder to make her stop fidgeting. "Just wait. If she were dead, we'd still be able to find her soul."

Tatsuki didn't think she needed to remind him that that _wasn't fucking comforting at all_ when she saw him wince, and decided he might have figured it out just as he said it. "I don't like waiting."

"I know you d- there it is." Ikkaku backed up a few steps and turned away from Tatsuki to take the call. It came a lot faster than he'd expected, but Yumichika was pretty damn efficient when he knew exactly who to call. "Yumichika?"

"She's gone, Ikkaku. I talked to Kuchiki Rukia, Urahara-san and Captain Ukitake. Captain Ukitake saw her step into the gate, but Urahara-san never saw her step out. Of course, he was busy with us, but Renji was in the training area, too. Commander Yamamoto's been alerted and we're to attend an emergency meeting in four hours at Orihime-chan's house." Yumichika paused for a second to let that sink in, and then sighed a bit. "Check her room. Her escorts arrived just after I made the call and they say she's either dead or kidnapped."

Ikkaku rubbed his eyes and dragged a hand down his face. "Shit. When everyone was caught up with the hollows? I'll get back to ya if we find anything."

"I'll have more details soon. There's a possibility she's alright, but the chances aren't high. Her ability makes her useful to Aizen, though. You're still with Tatsuki-chan?"

"Yeah."

Yumichika paused. Then, "We'll probably be called back in the morning."

"I know."

"I'll see you soon."

"Yeah."

Ikkaku hung up, and Tatsuki promptly invaded his personal space. "What happened?"

"Orihime-chan's gone."

"I just _told_ you that! Tell me what _happened_."

"I had to confirm. And no one knows. They're still tryin' to figure it out." He squeezed her shoulder and nudged her back in the direction of her house. "Go home. I'm gonna check her room."

"I'll go with you."

"Didn't you hear me say, 'Go home'?"

Tatsuki tried the door, glanced around when she found it locked and then stepped off the stoop to get a window open. She motioned for Ikkaku to stay where he was, climbed in and a few seconds later, had the door open. "I know Orihime's room better than you do, anyway."

* * *

Yumichika's voice was strained, but thoughtful. "So she had time to leave a note."

"Just directions about takin' care of the house. Might be something, might be nothin'. Might be from earlier."

"Might be something. Urahara-san says to check it over for anything you might've missed."

Tatsuki waved a hand in Ikkaku's face, then pointed at the bottom corner of the page. It was written in English, so Ikkaku just shrugged and gave her a questioning look.

"It says 'goodbye'. I mean, there's more, but that's the part that matters."

Ikkaku covered the mouthpiece to swear, then put the phone back to his ear. "Yumichika, she had time ta leave a note."

"I'll pass it on. Anything else?"

"Pretty much flipped the place over, there's nothin' else. Can't even pick up a fresh trace'a reiatsu."

"I'll see you soon, Ikkaku."

Tatsuki waited for Ikkaku to hang up, set the notebook back on the table they had found it on and headed for the door out of Orihime's room. "What'd they say?"

He followed her down the stairs, then back onto the sidewalk. He didn't really want to lie, but sometimes it was just part of the job. Besides, the less Tatsuki had to worry until the situation blew over, the better. "Still got no idea what the hell happened."

"Are you gonna tell me when you find out?"

Ikkaku frowned. "Probably not. She's most likely still alive."

Tatsuki scowled back but didn't jab him in the chest. She could do it later when he wasn't recovering from some fight she had missed out on, but she did draw herself up and try to make him look her in the face. "I want to know. I don't care if it's good or bad, but I gotta know."

"We'll see."

"Give me one good reason. Give me one good reason and I'll let it go."

Ikkaku looked at her impassively. "I tell you an' you'll do somethin' stupid. I'll get in trouble an' you'll be in trouble an' then there's nothin' either of us'll be able to do. We'll handle it."

"Those aren't good reasons." Tatsuki immediately recognized the signs of Being Shut Out (Again). For her own good, or because they thought they could handle a situation involving Orihime better than she could. "And what else am I supposed to do, then?"

"Wait. Do what you can. Keep an eye on your classmates. Trust Ichigo. What do you want me to say?" Ikkaku's expression was the coldest Tatsuki had ever seen it- she could feel it in his spiritual pressure, too. "We'll handle it. Or Ichigo will, an' the rest of us're gonna keep sitting around bein' useless for a while."

Tatsuki didn't think that patrolling and cleansing hollows all the time was 'being useless'- at least he was occupied- but Ikkaku clearly did. And he hated it. Even she could guess that it was all just filler to keep him and Yumichika busy and out of trouble until they were needed. "You're an optimist, aren't you."

"Whatever happens, happens. Soul Society's gonna do everything it can. Ichigo, too." He paused, looked away, and then sighed. "An' you kids don't need to get involved."

"Thanks. I appreciate your _concern_. Obviously I can't take care of _myself_ when it matters."

He shrugged. "Someday, ya might, but die now an' all that potential ain't gonna mean shit."

"So what are you gonna do?"

"Wait for orders."

"Yeah, right." A whole slew of emotions flashed across Tatsuki's face- worried, thoughtful, hesitant, maybe just a little bit sad, then resigned. She kept her expression carefully schooled in a fight, but out of one, Tatsuki hadn't had much practice. She bit her lip, looked at her feet and hooked her thumbs in her pockets. "When you go... I. Still barely know how to fight with a weapon."

"You've got time to learn."

"You're gonna finish teaching me, right? So... be careful."

Ikkaku decided that it would be a good time to dodge making any promises about what he would and wouldn't do once he left. He wasn't even sure he'd get out of the war alive, or if he'd come back to Karakura if he did. He didn't know how to make this girl fucking _understand_ without saying it outright, but it was unlucky to say that sort of stuff out loud. His reply was noncommittal, and exactly the sort of indecisive statement he usually avoided at all costs, but- "We'll see."

She got it, though. Tatsuki understood, nodded- then, plaintively, "And if you do die, you better kick loads of ass going down."

Something twisted painfully in his chest, but Ikkaku's lips pulled back almost automatically into a sharp smile. "Who do you think you're talkin' to?"

"And..."

"And?"

Tatsuki motioned for Ikkaku to lean down so she could mutter, "Thanks, for everything," in his ear. Just before he straightened up, Tatsuki kissed him lightly on the cheek, then backed off, refusing to look at him until her face stopped being flushed.

Ikkaku fought mightily to suppress any surprise in his voice, but even he thought he sounded a little too soft to be himself. "... hey, no problem."

"And tell Ayasegawa-"

"'S alright to call him Yumichika, you know."

When she finally looked back up at him, Ikkaku caught a determined, confident flash in her expression. "I'm not letting _any_ of you_-_ you or Ichigo or any of your shinigami friends- off the hook, and I might do something drastic if Orihime isn't back by tomorrow. And I think you don't think I can do anything when I _can_. But I'm glad I met you guys... and I'll take care of things back here."

Ikkaku dropped his hand onto her head and ruffled her hair. "I'll walk you back."

Tatsuki caught his wrist and scowled. "And I'm going after Ichigo."

"Don't. You'll just get pissed off."

"If Orihime isn't back by tomorrow morning, I'm going after Ichigo."

He realized belatedly that nothing he could say would make a difference and sighed. "It's not gonna help. An' don't tell him _I_ told ya anything."

"It might help. _I_ can help."

Ikkaku shut his eyes and stepped back a bit to scan Karakura Town for Ichigo. Recovering from his fight with an Espada, still- Rukia and his sisters were with him. If there was one thing Ichigo didn't need, it was his friends demanding explanations from him, but it wasn't as if there was anything Ikkaku could've done about that, except to try and intercept the trainwreck before it hit. "You're just gonna start a fight."

"I'm thinking about it."

"Don't."

Tatsuki looked torn for a second, but Ikkaku squeezed the back of her neck and she forgot to argue in favor of punching him on the shoulder. Tatsuki started walking, anyway. A few minutes later, she nagged Ikkaku to go home until he finally agreed, and took off. He glanced back, met her eyes and grinned, then slapped the wall as he turned the corner. Tatsuki dropped into an easy crouch to stretch her legs, straightened up and started to run. Back home or around the block a few times, she didn't know. Just somewhere, to do something.

It didn't sound or _feel _like a goodbye, even though Tatsuki knew it was. But he'd be back, someday- or he won't.

Tatsuki had a hell of a bruise on her hip (and shoulder, and wrist, and legs and back of her head), a missing best friend, two new friends who wanted her to get stronger just as badly as she wanted to _be_ stronger (who would be pissed as hell if she got herself dead before then), and a few tough decisions to make.

It wasn't a bad deal.

* * *

.

* * *

**NOTES:**

_Don't be dismayed at good-byes. A farewell is necessary before we can meet again and meeting again, after moments or a lifetime, is certain for those who are friends. _**Richard Bach.**


End file.
